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People called her Blue Angel.
Not everyone in the Royal Court hid their names, even though Aoi knew it was the smart thing to do. There were many beings out there, beings who could use your name as a weapon against you. Something to hold power over you.
Even the Queen was only called that - Queen. Not her real name. Not anything else.
Just Queen.
“Why do you use your real name?”
“We can’t hide in the shadows from creatures of the forest.”
“So you think I should be using my name as well?”
Akira hesitated.
“I wish I could say it’s safe for you to do so.”
“So it’s safe for you, and not for me?”
Her brother gave a wry smile.
“No, it’s not safe for me. But my name… my name got revealed ages ago. Even if I would want them to stay quiet about it, it is already out there. The only thing I can do is to raise my head and move forward.”
Akira Zaizen’s name was public knowledge.
Which meant that he became both frightening and extremely vulnerable.
Aoi barely ever left the Royal Court. Why would she? There was no reason to. Besides, the Royal Court’s walls were laced with iron, that kept the members of the… other Courts outside.
Seelie and Unseelie were one thing. Fair Folk, with their chaotic nature, and their affinity for pranks. But they at least knew what they were.
The Cyberse Court were different.
It was hard for her to imagine exactly how, but people were more terrified of the Cyberse Court than from the other Courts. They were closer to humans. More prevalent.
More dangerous.
And there were the six leaders of the Cyberse Court - the six Ignis.
Everyone knew this much. Everyone knew that catching those six was a priority. They had magic nobody else understood.
And they weren’t the only ones who had weird magic.
~*~
Aoi never could forget the first time she saw one of them.
She wasn’t supposed to leave the Royal Court. She was supposed to stay inside, behind the iron wards of the court. She was supposed to stay safe.
But she wasn’t about to just spend her entire life inside, not going around the surrounding forest.
And of course, she ran into bandits occasionally - not that they posed a big threat to her, usually. She had iron daggers, and even a small gun, in case for emergencies. And potions made for her deep within the court, potions that disoriented the enemy, or created bright flashes of light for her to hide behind and disappear.
She was never defenseless.
Of course dancing with the enemy meant that sooner or later she would get into situations that were way over her head.
The ground was shaking, and all the trees were moving menacingly, and Aoi’s horse was terrified as she ran away, and Aoi was trapped.
“This isn’t personal, Blue Angel,” The man with a pale skin and paler hair looked at him with a smirk. “You are just simply an asset for us to lure someone close.”
Aoi hated being a hostage, though, so she grabbed her dagger and jammed it into the man’s hand.
The man yelled - and there was smoke from his hand, as he jumped back away… and he actually laughed.
“Look at you! Pretty sister of Akira Zaizen actually has a bite, huh?”
“...the iron burnt you.”
The man grinned.
“Surprised?”
“You aren’t human.”
The man’s grin grew wider.
“I’m more human than the one I am trying to lure.”
“...who are you trying to lure?”
“Want to see? Then want to be my hostage?”
She knew it was stupid, but she found herself nodding.
What was this weird nonhuman trying to lure?
The man started laughing.
“Splendid! You are actually surprising, Blue Angel. You can call me Spectre, by the way. Don’t worry. I will be gentle.”
It was true, and yet not. The way the tree’s branches wrapped around her were actually gentle, but the way she was yanked up in the air was actually not that gentle.
She saw the one who came for her, but only barely - in one moment he wasn’t there, and the next, he was, like he stepped out of the shadows. The darkness moved around him like it was an intrinsic part of him, and his skin was pale, his movements soundless.
He seemed… wrong. Like he was not meant to walk in this world.
And then turned to look at her, an unreadable expression on his face.
“It’s a trap.”
A cheerful voice rang out of the darkness, and the pale figure nodded.
“It is.”
His voice was deadpan, and there was a laughter, as something small and dark flew around him. And then he stepped back to the darkness easily, and then he was gone, along with the small, dark sprite.
“Did you see that?”
Spectre stepped out from behind a tree, with glee on his face.
“Who… was that?”
“The locals call him Playmaker. He is partnered up with the Dark Ignis.”
“...that was an Ignis?”
“Yup. First time seeing one?”
Aoi didn’t need to reply, and Spectre continued.
“That’s what being close to an Ignis does to a person.”
“Was that… his magic, or…”
“It could be either of theirs,” Spectre shrugged. “But from words on the street we can assume that Playmaker himself has magic. Oh, anyways. Obviously they figured it out. Not the most ideal outcome. But I don’t need you anymore.”
Then Spectre let her go.
As in, he made Aoi drop to the ground, and then he was gone.
What a bastard.
Then she saw Spectre’s face on one of the Wanted posters, calling him a Knight of Hanoi.
That certainly made things even more confusing.
~*~
“I thought humans can’t have magic.”
Akira sighed. He clearly was not happy about Aoi’s adventures outside, but despite that
“They aren’t supposed to. But the Cyberse Court… has an effect on people.”
“...what do you mean?”
“They often become… something else. We can’t explain what, but if someone spends a lot of time in Cyberse Court, or close to one of the inhabitants, mostly one of the Ignis, they… lose more and more of their humanity.”
“Is that what happened with Spectre and Playmaker?”
“I do not have answers to what happened with them, or even who they are,” Akira shook his head. “But probably. Playmaker is probably further down the road than Spectre is. Especially as the Knights of Hanoi oppose the Ignis, it’s… odd to see that one of them uses magic that originates from the Cyberse Court.”
Magic…
~*~
It also wasn’t just outside the Royal Court that Aoi was wandering around - inside the Court’s huge buildings and massive gardens, and even more catacombs underneath it, there were many things that Aoi could sneak around in.
Of course there were guards, who were all under Akira’s command, so probably were more forgiving when they caught Aoi sneaking around somewhere if anyone else would have been.
But she wasn’t caught all the time.
That is how she overheard a conversation.
“The Queen said we need to stand constant guard around her. They said she is… changing.”
“Changing like what? She already was like them.”
“Not this much. She is becoming more and more nonhuman. Which means one of them is visiting her.”
The guards’ voice trailed off, and Aoi’s eyes narrowed.
Changing.
Nonhuman.
Them.
Obviously she needed to find out what was going on.
~*~
There was unrest between the guards, it was obvious something was not going well, but it took Aoi a few days of sneaking around and stealing glances to Akira’s reports to figure out what was going on.
And then she could finally follow the trail deep inside the catacombs, until one late night she found guards passed out.
And behind them a cell with iron bars warding it off.
And behind it, a familiar figure.
“...Miyu…?”
The girl inside jerked uptight, her eyes widened - and around her, a small blue sprite also moved around.
The sprite raised her hand, and..
“Aqua, don’t!” Miyu yelled, standing up to run towards the cell door. “...Aoi? Is that really you?”
Aoi stepped closer, confused, looking at Miyu - she looked pale and thin, and her hair put up into two messy pigtails, but there was a smile on her face.
“I’m so happy to see you, Aoi! Ow!”
She reached out, seemingly by instinct, but as her hand reached the iron bars, she yanked her hand back with a yelp.
And there was a burn mark on her hand.
(Spectre’s hand did not react this violently to Aoi’s dagger.)
“Is this your friend?” The sprite asked, and Miyu nodded.
“Yes. Yes she is. An old friend.”
They were friends when they were small, often playing around - but then one day, Miyu disappeared without a trace.
Aoi’s brother did look for her, but there were never any leads.
(If there were never any leads why were guards looking after Miyu…?)
“And you are an Ignis.” Aoi said.
“And you are Akira Zaizen’s sister.”
“How are you even here? The iron wards…”
“The Queen deliberately removed the iron wards from the outside of this cell,” Aqua explained. “She intended my partner to be bait to catch me.”
“Your… partner?”
“Yes. My partner. We do not have a lot of time to talk about it, though. You should leave.”
“Wait!” Miyu cried out in panic. “Will you come tomorrow as well, Aoi? Please come tomorrow as well. And then we will explain everything, okay?”
“You need to go,” Aqua stressed. “The guards will wake up soon.”
So Aoi left.
But it would definitely not be the last time she went there.
~*~
It would become a pattern. Aoi would sneak into the catacombs, and by that time, all the other guards would be asleep, thanks to Aqua’s magic. She would sit down to the other side of the cell doors, and talk with Miyu and Aqua. And they would tell her everything.
They would tell her about how the Hanoi were the ones who kidnapped Miyu and five other children. The experiments they were forced to endure, and how their bodies changed as a result of being exposed to an Ignis’ magic. They stopped being human.
They were somewhere between the realms.
Miyu herself started to look healthier and healthier the more Aoi saw her - her skin was still on the paler side, but there was a smile on her face now, and a light in her eyes.
Aoi had no idea how could she help her.
How could she help them.
All she could do, was to reach through the iron bars, as they did not burn her, and she could hold Miyu’s hand.
After a few weeks, Aqua also settled there, on their joined hands, and they would talk like that. Talking until Aqua told Aoi it was time to go, and there was a small tingle on Aoi’s skin where Aqua’s body touched her.
But that could just ease their loneliness, and she had no idea how to help them.
Until one night, when Aoi was sneaking there, she met with panic, so had to retreat.
Someone disappeared in the night, the walls blasted open.
And she heard whispers of the water cell and the corridor being drenched in water.
~*~
“Did you know about Miyu being held in that cell?”
She stood in front of her brother once they were alone, and tried to stop her anger from spreading.
Akira sighed.
“For the matter of fact - no. I do not know about everything the Queen keeps hidden. She just gives orders for keep guard over an area - the same guards being in shifts with each other, and sworn to secrecy, unless they want to be executed for treason. So no, I did not know it was her there.”
Aoi knew her brother enough, she knew that look on his face.
She knew her brother knew people - that oddball pair of outlaws siblings, who were all around on wanted posters, and yet they often turned up inside the Court. She had no idea where did his brother knew them, but they were here and away again.
And she knew her brother enough that he started questioning things - if Miyu was down there what - or who else might be?
And she reached her hand out, squeezing Akira’s hand.
“You fight your own battles, big brother. I have to go and fight mine.”
Akira took a deep breath, and Aoi saw on his face that he desperately wanted to say no.
“Stay safe.”
Aoi Zaizen - or Blue Maiden, as she started calling herself that day - left the Royal Court during that night.
~*~
Finding an Ignis and her partner was exactly as hard as she thought it would be. Aqua and Miyu needed to disappear after all.
How do you find someone who wanted to disappear?
Look for someone who can find them.
She remembered Spectre, with his earth-based powers. He was obviously someone who was changed by the Cyberse Court’s magic. Was he just someone who wandered in? Or was he another of the kidnapped children?
Should she look for him?
Being a Knight of Hanoi, this ruled him out, though. She can’t ask a Knight’s help to find someone she didn’t want to be killed when the Knights did want them dead.
So, Spectre was right out.
Which left…
~*~
Finding Playmaker was even harder. Wherever she went, people seemed to have stories of him, stepping out of shadows and disappearing in them as well. Turned up, and fought with the Knights of Hanoi occasionally - mostly their footsoldiers. Some people admired Playmaker for this - some of the Knights’ footsoldiers were taking pleasure in harassing the communities.
Others cursed him for it, seeing the Knights as heroes willing to fight against the beings from the Cyberse Court.
Asking around can gain attention, though.
Not that she minded it.
“Why are you asking around for me, Blue Angel?”
It was dark outside, and she was walking down a forest path when she heard the voice - she didn’t see anyone.
The voice came from the darkness.
“I go by Blue Maiden lately.”
“That wasn’t an answer, Blue Maiden.”
Aoi looked around, but still saw no one.
“...I met with someone like you. So I need your help.”
Silence.
“Spectre is not really like me, and you know that.”
“I do not mean Spectre. I also met… I also met one of the Ignis. She called herself Aqua.”
Suddenly, with a quick flash, there was the dark sprite floating in front of Aoi’s face.
“Oh! Aqua, you say? And in what circumstance you met with Aqua? Huh? Huuuh?”
The Dark Ignis resembled Aqua in a way two humans resemble each other - around the same size and basic form, but was a dark purple colour, and a different shape.
And was obviously scowling at Aoi, his hands on his hips, leaning forward.
“We talked a lot,” Aoi explained. “There was M--- her partner. She used to be my childhood friend so when I found them I kept going back and talk a lot. They managed to get out finally, I assume that Aqua’s abilities finally made her strong enough that they could… break out. So I am looking for them now.”
The Dark Ignis hummed before breaking out in a laughter, clapping his hands together.
“We are fine now Playmaker! Aqua can sense if someone is a lying liar who lies. She would not have humoured Blue Maiden if she would have wanted harm to her or her partner. Hey, hey, Blue Maiden tell me - how did you even end up teaming up with Spectre that one time? Also--”
“Ai.”
The sudden, sharp voice made the Dark Ignis stop blabbering on - and it took Aoi a few moments to realise Ai must have been what he was called.
(Well. Not his real name. Obviously.)
From the darkness, Playmaker stepped out, green eyes focused on Aoi - and she noticed he was limping.
“...what happened with your leg?”
“I had an argument some time ago with someone who had iron at his disposal,” Playmaker said in a dry tone.” But back to you, because you looking for Aqua and her partner does not explain why are you looking for me.”
“I am looking for whatever leads I might have. And you are what I could think of.”
“I do not know Aqua or her partner,” Playmaker said, crossing his arms in front of his chest, his face still passive. “You need to try elsewhere.”
“I know a vague direction.”
Ai piped up, and Playmaker glared, while Ai seemed unfazed by it as he continued.
“We can take you well, somewhere close,” Ai kept chattering. “But you know the rules. It is our realm. Sooo, unless you have one of those handy iron talismans the Hanoi uses...”
Both Ai and Playmaker fixed their eyes on her, waiting for her response.
And Aoi just made her choice.
“Just take me there.”
~*~
Travelling through the darkness was horrible, it was like being sucked through the void, although Playmaker seemed entirely unfazed.
Maybe because it was his element at this point.
(She wondered how far did he already wander from his humanity.)
Playmaker and Ai left her there, before going on their own way - and Aoi wondered if she will see them again.
The world they left her in was… actually beautiful, if dream-like. The kind of dream where you are aware that you are dreaming because you just have a slight sense of feeling… off.
The entire area was vibrant, and there were soft sound of creatures everywhere - but she didn’t actually see anything that could have given out those sounds.
“I don’t think it was smart of you to come here.”
The voice was gentle, as Aqua appeared in the field of Aoi’s vision, and Aoi couldn’t help but to smile.
“I wanted to find you. And also to see if Mi---”
“Don’t call her that,” Aqua interrupted her gently. “You two might know each others’ true names, but still be careful, Blue Angel. You can call her Siren, when anyone else could hear.”
“Siren…” Aoi mused, and nodded. “Alright. I use the Blue Maiden name now.”
Aqua also nodded, before her body glowed in a blue light - and when the glowing stopped, Aqua stood there in a human form: a beautiful girl with blue-and-pink pigtails, and pretty clothes, and glowing pink eyes.
“Come on then, Blue Maiden. I will show you around my realm.”
~*~
“Siren, I brought someone. Her name is Blue Maiden.”
Miyu was sitting next to a stream - and then she looked back, and suddenly jumped to her feet.
“...you? Here?” She looked lost and confused. “Why…?”
“I missed you,” Aoi said, stepping forward, taking Miyu’s hand into her own, like she did through the cell door. “I wanted to see if you are alright.”
“But…”
Aoi stepped forward, and did what she could not do, with the iron between them - locked Miyu into her arms.
“I know what I am doing, Siren,” She promised, closing her eyes. “I know.”
~*~
The Cyberse Court (because that’s where they were, it was obvious, in Aqua’s realm) was everything and nothing like Aoi remembered from stories.
It was beautiful. Alluring. Charming.
It was also unreal, a place where the natural and unnatural bends - more and more beings appeared from streams around Aoi, laughing.
Weird beings, with hands and legs resembling fish more than they did humans, and smiles on their faces.
Aqua created them, Miyu had explained, standing in the water.
Aoi also saw the way the water moved around Miyu - how her skin would get healthier in the water, but how it would also look like she was the water.
(And she remembered Playmaker, his form flowing along with the darkness that surrounded him.)
(She remembered feeling like Playmaker was wrong, unnatural, but she felt nothing like that about Miyu - so she now wondered if she would still think the same, if she were to meet Playmaker now.)
Aqua was often away, but Aoi was next to Miyu, sleeping all snuggled up to her - and she couldn’t recall when did Miyu start to wake her up with kisses, but she certainly did not mind that.
~*~
Aoi figured she should have been more surprised when, one day, her hand was over one of the ponds in the realm, and the water started to move without her touching it.
She did not feel it happen, unless you count the fact that she felt more and more home in the forest. It was nice, and comfortable, and the water started to answer to her call.
“If you want to leave, you could still go,” Aqua’s voice was sad. “This is not something that could be reversed, but you could still live a normal life with a little magic. You could keep it a secret.”
Aoi thought back to the Royal Court, of the catacombs and the closed iron bars.
She thought of his brother, willing to look for the truth.
You fight for the truth in your own way, big brother. I do it my way.
She turned away from the water, and took Aqua’s face between her hands, just so she could kiss her.
“I made my choice, Aqua.”
~*~
Whenever Aqua was not away, the three of them would sleep tangled together - sometimes Aqua was in her human form, and sometimes she was in a blue, almost monstrous form, with several long limbs that wrapped around Aoi and Miyu both, keeping them safe.
~*~
~*~
Eventually she left the Court, to wander the roads again, looking for what she needed to know.
Playmaker.
Miyu.
Probably Spectre as well.
There were three other former victims out there, still, and Aoi couldn’t help, but wonder…
Aqua was very evasive about the other Ignis, and Aoi could not blame her. All of them seemed to be protective of each other, so she figured she would have to earn the trust of the other Ignis as well.
Which would take time.
Every time she would want to step back into the Cyberse Court, all she would need to do is to use a body of water - the same way Playmaker used the shadows to travel.
(And using the water did not feel anywhere near as bad as using the shadows did.)
“Blue Maiden.”
Aoi stopped on her tracks and looked around - and saw her brother’s face.
And it looked like his heart was breaking.
“What… happened?”
She wondered how different did she look - how far was she gone?
“I made my choice. You want to know the whole truth as well, don’t you?”
“...is that why you did this?”
Aoi smiled, and shook her head.
“Partially. But you are right. I… fell in love, big brother.”
Akira was silent, and stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Are you happy?”
“It would be easy to just stay there forever,” Aoi admitted. “But I cannot forget why I also set out to travel. I went to find my friend, and I did - but I also want to know all the answers. Do you already know the answers inside the Royal Court?”
“I am working on it,” Akira nodded. “But hard with all the spies.”
“You work from the inside. I work from the outside. We will expose the truth, then. Together.”
Akira slowly nodded, and leaned forward to press a kiss to Aoi’s forehead.
“Be careful.”
“You too.”
~*~
It won’t happen easily, Aoi knew that.
Between the Ignis being elusive, and the Knights of Hanoi and the Royal Court also out there… it won’t be easy. And that was even without taking Playmaker into account.
It will take a while.
But Aoi figured she didn’t mind.
She had Aqua, and even when Aoi’s own power grew, it was nowhere near the terrifying control Aqua had over it. Not to mention her ability to tell the truth from lies - an ability Aoi did not inherit.
Miyu was still not perfectly healthy, from whatever the Royal Court did to her through these years - but she was already fired up to one day go with Aoi on her travels. And she did inherit Aqua’s power to spot lies somehow.
And when that day comes…
Well.
The Queen and the Knights won’t know what hit them.
Because Aoi will protect the ones she loves.