Work Text:
Once upon a time, long long ago, in a small remote land, lived a prince named Kokichi Ouma.
He was described by his people to be a trickster, often seen picking on his servants or knights whenever he had the chance.
But one day, Kokichi left to journey around the world with his friend Himiko. His hopes, and only purpose? To seek out a future bride.
To bring prosperity or not, his goal was to find her.
On this journey, they visited all sorts of lands. One was the Land of the Stars. The Land of the Stars had a very beautiful night sky, filled with many many stars. They seem to shimmer brighter than anywhere else before.
When they arrived to meet, the king, Kaito Momota, wasn’t so willing to have his sister off and wed to a known trickster like prince Kokichi. Understanding, Kokichi knew that would come to mind whenever he would ask for his sister’s hand in marriage.
Besides, his sister isn’t the type he sees marrying anytime soon. She still needs to learn about the stars and all their meanings, where the zodiac signs are, and when they come every year. Even though her body is old enough, her mind is too young to marry now.
Himiko only patted his back and wished that maybe it would be the next land to come where they'll find the right princess for him.
Kaito gave his condolences, apologizing for wasting their time; but wished them luck at the next land.
Another land was the Land of Robotics. A very futuristic place. No corner turned has there not been a being without metal. Many machines worked throughout the kingdom, sometimes seen getting repaired by other beings.
Alas, meeting the king, K1-B0; Kiibo as he said you could call him, it wasn’t surprising that he was part of the metal beings. He was 100% metal and running his land with no problem of getting broken.
Kiibo, even though he doesn’t have a princess yet, suggested making a princess for Kokichi to marry. He came to their peaceful land, he should repay him for this.
Kokichi refused this notion, stating that this princess also didn’t fit his standards. A princess that doesn’t exist yet? It doesn’t feel right nor does he like the idea of being married to something as young as a simple baby.
It hurt the king knowing this, but he understood what he meant. He needs someone who can be mature, that’s something he can’t make out of metal. He gave a simple nod, giving them a simple understanding look.
He may not be entirely human, but he does understand what Kokichi was trying to look for. And metal is something he is not.
Himiko turned towards Kokichi telling him that they should move on to somewhere else, knowing he won’t get anywhere with a makeshift princess if he decided to change his mind about courting the metal.
They went to many different lands in this journey, some deadlier than the others. Some of the deadlier encounters were caused by Kokichi himself but you didn’t hear that from me.
But one thing for certain, they didn’t give up on Kokichi’s purpose to marry a princess.
Until the day they found the right princess.
Princess Kaede, princess of the Land of Music. She was beautiful, the perfect princess to marry. The ideal princess.
The day he was going to propose, he noticed something. He didn’t want to marry a princess. His heart didn’t go to the princess, rather, to his friend…
Himiko.
He had to tell her how he felt.
Kokichi placed his hands in hers and smiled, “I feel like I've been living a lie. I’ve been searching all this time for someone who’s been beside me all this time.” Himiko’s eyes widened at this confession, she was surprised, to say the least. Kokichi continued, “I planned on proposing to the princess but I can’t do that, because there’s someone else I truly love. And that's you.”
He removed his hands from hers to give her space, “I’ve never felt I could feel this way about anyone, but I don’t want to let it go. I love you, Himiko.”
She was still taken aback by the confession. Even though he’s a known liar, she didn’t want this to be a lie. But the tone in his voice was sincere, he was truthful about every word he said.
But she was still uncertain about this. He was a prince after all, and what was she, a normal person. Does she deserve him?
She excused herself, telling him to go back to the castle and that she needs to think about what he just said.
Uncertainty led her to wander through the forest that surrounded the land. It was then she saw the fairy of the woods appear, Tsumugi Shirogane.
Tsumugi noticed instantly the distressed girl walking through her forest, and why not help her? Help her with this uncertainty and dread building up. Yes, she has the perfect thing for her!
Tsumugi walked towards Himiko and patted her head, “You can’t hide anything from me, the fairy of the woods. I know what’s in your heart. You’re in love with the prince, aren’t you Himiko?”
The red-head only nodded before speaking again, pulling her into an embrace, “But he’s of royal blood and you’re...not. You know that only a princess is right to marry a prince, yet you can’t seem to stop yourself from loving him.” Tsumugi hugged her tighter, “A forbidden love between a royal and a normie, heartbreaking.”
Himiko then saw Tsumugi pull away from the hug and did a twirl, “Don’t worry, my dear, the fairy of the woods will help to make sure you’re worthy of marrying a prince! Or any prince in that matter!”
Her sweet smile didn’t prepare Himiko for what she was planning next.
Humming, she reached behind her back, grabbed something, and brought it out in front of her. It was sharp, almost like...
“Take this dagger, Himiko. Use it to kill Princess Kaede. Killing her will grant you enough status and prestige to marry Prince Kokichi, I would say.” She gave her another sweet and innocent smile as she inched it towards her, “But know this, this isn’t just a simple dagger. Once you take this from me, you must use it to kill someone.”
Himiko, shakingly, took the dagger from the fairy’s hands. This was the only option, wasn’t it?
Tsumugi gave her a simple wave before Himiko left her sights to get back to the castle.
---
“Prince Kokichi,” Himiko mumbled, fiddling with her thumbs. She was in her room alone thinking about the fairy, “What should I say once I do it? We can finally be together?”
She shook her head and sighed, “Nyeh, this is hard! How can I even face him if I killed someone? I can’t...but…”
“Once you take this from me, you must use it to kill someone.” That’s right, she has to kill her, she took the dagger after all. And after taking the weapon, she must kill someone. Biting her lip, she decided what she needed to do.
That night, Himiko, with the dagger in hand, went to the princess’s bedroom. Glaring at the sleeping princess, she raised her hand with the dagger, ready to strike her.
But she stopped.
She couldn’t bring herself to kill the princess. But why can’t she?
Himiko felt tears running down the sides of her face. This was her chance for happiness, the only path she could have with Kokichi. But was it worth murdering someone to achieve true happiness? It was her only option, but she didn’t want that option.
The only option was wrong.
But what was she supposed to do now, she had to kill someone with that dagger, that’s what the forest fairy told her. If she couldn’t kill the princess, who else was there?
She raised the dagger once again, but instead of stabbing the princess, she stabbed the only other person she could think of...herself.
It was her selfish thoughts that almost caused her to make an idiotic decision, after all, she deserved this.
With that last thought, she fell to her knees and slumped over, blood spilling onto the floor, closing her eyes as she died by the foot of Kaede’s bed.
The sleeping princess never knew what was going to transpire.
Only then, Kokichi opened the door to the princess’s bedroom. He knew Himiko acted strangely when she came back to the castle. But...
“What’s going on- wait, Himiko?” He rushed to her side, kneeling beside her, “This dagger, this is a cursed blade from the fairy of the wood.” He held her close, “The curse required you to take a life, but you couldn’t bring yourself to kill, could you? You could have killed the princess, but instead…”
His expression went blank.
“...you’ve left me alone in this world.”
His grip on her body tightened, “Why…? You could’ve killed her, she was right there! We could’ve been happy together but you decided to be selfish! Is this what you wanted all along? To condemn me to live my days without you?” Kokichi gritted his teeth, “I hate it! I loathe my royal blood and I loathe a world without you! I curse it all, everything!”
Kokichi let her go, he didn’t allow himself to shed even a single tear for her. Why bother, crying won’t bring her back. Crying doesn't bring anyone back, this isn't a cliché fairy tale.
All he could think of was how he should give back, back to this unpromising world he has come to live in. And why not have the entire world suffer the same pain he did?
With that thought in mind, he smiled, that’s a brilliant plan, isn’t it?
Never did the two imagine that such a destiny awaited them at the end of their journey.
Himiko was dead, and Kokichi suffered through life alone. Overcome with sorrow, having lost the person he loved, the prince was consumed by hatred. He cursed the world and those in it.
He’ll do anything to rid the world himself.
Who cares if his people are calling him the devil for doing this? Does he honestly care about their worthless name-calling at the moment? Call him a demon, he doesn’t care, he’d rather be called that than actual royalty.
Kokichi dedicated himself to bringing despair and misfortune to creatures everywhere, letting his reign of terror befall a world that is rid of his lover...
...for as long as he lives.