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Nico thinks this is a stupid idea.
Granted, it’s her idea. There’s nothing forcing her to follow it down the path that turns ideas into plans ; exempting her pride, which is a very large something.
It’s her pride forcing her to carry this out, arrogance pushing her forward. Through the shadows of night, she slips through the palace gates (thanks to Nozomi’s strong concealment charm,) and into the bedroom of the crown princess.
Stupid, ridiculous, idiotic plan.
It’s unlike anything Nico’s attempted before— really, her expertise is petty crime. Apples, loaves of bread, anything to feed the four waiting mouths at home.
At least, that’s how it started.
Then, Nico tested what she could get away with. Earrings for her mom. Toys for her siblings. Smaller things with more worth.
Books. Shoes. Perfume. Dresses.
Anything she could get her hands on.
Word got around.
“Girl.” An old woman had beckoned her closer, “I heard you can nab things.”
Nico had hesitated, then nodded.
“You won’t mind gettin’ me something, then?”
She backed away. All she wanted to do was provide for her family. The woman spoke again. “I’ll pay.”
Nico smiled, flashing her teeth at the woman. “Well, I am the greatest thief in the world, of course!”
By the next week, she had a steady stream of customers, people who could afford her meager fee, but not the goods they wanted.
It became consuming, and it became a career.
Theft after theft after theft. Bolder and bolder still.
And now?
Well. Bedroom of the crown princess.
She’s facing away from Nico, asleep in her tall, canopied bed. The moonlight reflects prettily off of her long, taupe hair. Nico feels a blush rise to her cheeks as the girl turns over and reveals her face. The rumors of the princess’s beauty were definitely not unfounded.
Despite herself, Nico steps a few feet closer, right up to the side of the bed. Gingerly, she runs her fingers over the princess’s exposed arm.
Oh, curses. This is creepy, isn’t it?
She just needs to go through with it. Stepping even closer, Nico awkwardly tries to pick the taller girl up, holding her in a bridal-carry. It doesn’t take a lot of effort (thank you, Nozomi), and Nico’s just about ready to take the princess and go.
Of course, she’s managed to do something wrong— set off some magical sensor or another, and before she knows it, there’s an alarm ringing and red lights blaring. Already, she can hear the royal guard approaching.
With the princess in arm, Nico steps outside the bedroom to assess the situation.
They’re closing in from both sides. “Curses.” She’s going to have to drop the princess where she is and make a run for it. But where can she go? Through the princess’s window? Through the guards? She isn’t sure how strong the concealment charm is, and at this point, anything is risky.
Her time is almost up, and Nico can’t make a choice. Her grip tightens on the princess, seeking out her hand and giving it a tight squeeze. It’s an impulse decision, almost like a “goodbye,” before she deposits the other girl back where she came from.
That is, until the princess squeezes back.
Everything after the tight squeeze blurs together, but in the end, Nico still remembers the grip of the princess’ hand in hers, tightly tethering them together as the world folds into itself.
Blurrily, she sees the palace around her crumpling inwards, reality unfolding and refolding, the nothingness rising until she gracefully passes out.
An ant is crawling on her nose.
“Disgusting,” Nico mumbles, angrily brushing it off. The quality of the palace dungeons has really gone down, she thinks. Although, the floor she’s laying on is softer than the cold stone she expected, and it’s a lot brighter as well.
When she finally looks away from her own nose (making sure no more bugs were present), Nico realizes two very obvious things.
- She is not in a dungeon. She is outside, in some unknown, looking-to-be uninhabited wilderness.
- The princess is lying near her, still asleep.
The princess looks nowhere near as ethereal as she did in her chambers. In the light of day, she’s still pretty, but more… normal. Real. Like ants are allowed to crawl on her nose, too.
The thought of the princess being someone real makes something in Nico feel warm.
However, warm feelings have no place in this seemingly desolate landscape. Nico brushes it aside as she sits up, planting her palms in the grass. She's almost certain that she’s not allowed to touch the princess without special permission, but, seeing as they’re well outside the palace walls, she isn’t too concerned about breaking rules.
The other girl doesn’t wake when Nico pokes her cheek or shakes her shoulder. She doesn’t startle at loud stomping or clapping. Even Nico’s shouts of, “Hey, princess!” directly into her ear do nothing to make her stir. She just lays there, prettily. Nico would think she was dead, but her chest keeps gently rising and falling.
The point is, there’s no other option. At least, that’s what Nico rationalizes as she scoops up the princess in a bridal-carry for the second time that day. At least, she means to scoop the princess up, but find it harder than it was hours before. Damn Nozomi and her short-lived charms. (It probably isn’t Nozomi’s fault. From the look of the sun in the sky, Nico has probably been out for an expanse of time. But it’s more convenient to blame Nozomi.)
Maybe she can drag the other girl around? Or steal a horse? Or, possibly, if she focuses really really really hard, the magical powers that Nozomi has been trying so hard to evoke in her will finally manifest. The last option seems promising, so she closes her eyes tightly and furrows her brow so much she gets a headache.
When she opens her eyes again, the princess is floating.
Wow! Nico-nii really is amazing!
A levitating princess makes things much easier, and while Nico chooses to not focus on her newfound magical promise, she has another problem: Nico has absolutely no clue where she is. Just about everything around her is non-descript, and she can’t see anything beyond the dense woods. This isn’t a path she’s traveled before. Worse, she can’t remember any of the wilderness training Maki made her listen to, thinking there was no way she would ever need it. Vaguely, she thinks maybe she should follow the sun? Or walk away from the sun? At random, she picks a direction and starts walking, gently pulling the princess by her foot.
It’s wickedly hot (Nico really regrets the all-black attire, now) and she has no idea where she is, but Nico has nothing better to do, so she walks.
It’s much later, when the sun is just beginning to dip below the horizon, that a loud gasp rings out behind her, followed by a thump. Nico whips her head around to find the lovely princess on the forest floor.
The other girl blinks once, twice, and then pushes herself up into a sitting position. “Need a hand?” Nico asks, extending her arm. She must be in serious pain from hitting the ground so quickly.
“Was I floating?” The princess asks instead, looking up at Nico. Nico nods. The girl doesn’t seem surprised by that. She takes Nico’s hand gently. As Nico pulls her up, the girl introduces herself. “Princess Kotori Minami of Otonokizaka. And can I just say—” She runs her hands through Nico’s matted pigtails, grinning brightly, seemingly unaffected by her unknown surroundings. “You are so cute! Who are you?” She asks.
Nico coughs. “Nico.” She says, before realizing she probably shouldn’t have said that to the girl she kidnapped.
“Nico~!” Kotori exclaims, “That’s such a cute name!”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Nico backs away from Kotori. “Are you serious? You’re a princess who’s never left the palace, and you aren’t one bit concerned about the fact that you’re now in the middle of the woods? And that you were just passed out for, say, 16 hours?” Nico grimaces. She doesn’t know what she expected, but the princess seems like a bit of an airhead.
“Are you kidding?” Kotori giggles lightly. “I wanted to leave more than anything!”
Nico looks at the other girl. “And about the passing-out thing, well…” Kotori trails off, dropping her smile. “There’s no reason to talk about that for now. But, Nico, where are you taking me?”
Nico pauses. “To a hideout I have with a friend. Come on, let’s keep going.” She walks forward with an air of self-assurance, not willing to let on that she has no idea where she’s going.
Kotori bounds up next to her, gently taking her hand. “Lead the way, Nico- chan .” She grins. Nico tries to ignore the flush on her cheeks at the endearment, passes off as side effect of the the sun. The princess doesn’t mention it, just squeezes the thief’s hand once, twice. The blush grows.
There’s no reason to make conversation; honestly, Nico would rather avoid it. But Kotori is as bold as she is eager, and refuses to let Nico sulk.
“Where are you from?” She asks, “Do you have any siblings? What’s your favorite food?”
Nico thinks she might have a bit of a headache. Honestly, no one tells you what to do after you have the princess in your arms, and she’s at a loss. The other girl seems content to walk and chat, and Nico dutifully answers her questions.
“Kotori,” Nico starts, a few hours into their walk, interrupting the other girl’s story, “What’s it like— y’know, being a princess?”
Kotori pauses. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“Why not? I mean, you had everything.”
For the first time in hours, Nico’s hand dangles by itself. Kotori presses her fingernails, hard, into the tips of her hand. “Let’s not, Nico.”
Nico opens her mouth to respond, but shuts it when she turns back to look at Kotori. Around her, the ground is rising, clumps of dirt and grass slowly levitating.
“You have powerful magic,” Nico says, dryly. It’s not a question.
Kotori looks at her hands. “I can’t control it very well.” She admits, trudging along, past the floating earth. As soon as she’s out of range, it falls. “A friend of mine tried to help, but I think it was too late by then. It only comes out in short bursts, like before.”
A scoff escapes from Nico’s mouth before she can stop it. She doesn’t apologize. “So, you’re telling me that up in that palace they didn’t bowl you over with tutors, from France or England or wherever? Nice try, princess. I’m not buying it.” The girl scoffs, throwing a twintail over her shoulder, chin held high. “Come on, your highness.”
“Kotori,” The other girl nearly whispers. “Call me Kotori.” She repeats, louder, firmly. She’s stopped walking. “It’s Kotori, and I wouldn’t lie to you.” Nico stops, turns.
“You had everything, Kotori. I can’t imagine your life. I mean, it seems perfect.” She grits her teeth, trying not to be distracted by the tears welling up in Kotori’s eyes. “Silver spoons. Always having food on the table. Not having to worry about stuff like that. And then I meet you, and you’re this unpolished magical powerhouse, who’s dying to get out of there. I hate you for it. Hate that you would let it all go.”
Nico stomps her foot, and the rest of the dirt falls. “You don’t know how good you had it. Still have it— why don’t you just go back? This whole thing was a half-baked plan.” She spits out.
“If I use my magic too much, it’ll kill me.” Kotori whispers, tears falling down her face. “And they don’t care. They’ll just let it burn me right up.”
Nico gasps, deflating. “What?”
Kotori doesn’t reply. Nico steps forwards, shakes the other girl’s shoulders. “Kotori, what?”
“That’s it.” She sighs, reaching up to touch Nico’s hand. “That’s why I had to get out.”
“You—” Nico starts, but she can’t find the words. “Kotori, it’s going to kill you?”
Kotori shakes her head, trying to force the tears out of her eyes. “My magic only works in bursts, as I told you. After I use it like that, my body just… shuts down. I fall asleep. You saw it, before. It was half a day this time, but it’ll only get longer the more I use it.”
“And the levitation?”
“A self-defense mechanism, I think. But it doesn’t matter if I never wake up.” She looks Nico in the eyes, and despite the horror that Kotori’s telling her about, Nico can’t help the blush that spreads, once again.
A moment passes, and Nico reaches forward to wrap Kotori in a hug. “I won’t let that happen, Kotori. I won’t. They can’t take you away from me, and I will never let that happen.” Her words are slightly muffled by Kotori’s shoulder, but she knows the other girl felt them.
As she pulls away, Kotori takes hold of her hand once again. “Come on, Nico.” She squeezes Nico's hand. As Nico looks into her eyes, she sees glistening tears, but ones of joy, not anger or sadness. “Let’s go home.”