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Once upon a time -
In a far far away space -
Aboard the spaceship known as SEEDS, there’s a whole kingdom of civilisation of ice-cube humans. And currently, on their 2383th lightyear of being travelling in this galaxy called Despair, Vash sits alone in the gigantic freezer of what Nai affectionately calls their “citizens”.
Vash will confess right there and now, he never understands this whole royalty thing he and Nai have going on.
Give him a gun, he can shoot a bullseye. Show him a flower, he can name its scientific given one. Ask him to do his duties as a prince - hell no, he’s running.
So, that’s what he’s currently doing right now. Nai has ears and eyes all over this ship, but he’s always been a bit lax with Vash, to whom is dubbed as the “leash that holds the Independent King’s throat” by the many royalties scattered across the gazillion galaxies in existence. Vash fully (and foolishly) hopes Nai hasn’t set a constant surveillance on him, but he thinks Nai won’t have the time as he’s preparing for the Grand Bedazzling Despair Galaxy Royal Banquet just a few moons away.
Which is also the reason why Vash is running in the first place.
Quietly as he can with his bundle of belongings, he smashes in the password of the shuttle room, the doors quickly opening to let him.
The few citizens on duty look at him and Vash puts on his best fakest ‘I’m so not going to accidentally shut down the entire ship’s power system and make us nearly crashland again’ smile.
“Good evening, everyone! Glad to see you guys are working diligently!” He salutes them, chirping brightly.
They all give him looks of equal suspicion. One man in a white coat steps forward. “May I ask, Your Highness? What are you doing here?”
Vash laughs. “Can’t I just visit you guys? Geez!”
“King Knives had forbade you access to this place.”
Vash internally blanches. Oh god, how did he even forget that . Nai had gone to desperate measures to get Vash away from any sensitive parts of the ship. Sometimes, he wishes Nai isn’t so protective of him, he can handle a bit of trouble!
Judging by the looks thrown at him by his citizens, they really think the opposite of him.
Raising his hands, he chuckles awkwardly. “Can’t you loosen up the protocols? I swear I’m not doing anything funny!”
The man stares at him with an unimpressed look. “I’m sorry if this offends you, Your Highness, but the last time you uttered such words, you blasted a hole through the moon.”
…
Vash can’t argue with that.
Still, he sighs. “Look. Can you just please pretend I’m not here?”
The people cast unsure glances at each other. It’s very obvious what they’re thinking about; what Nai will do to them if they really let Vash pass. They won’t budge, it’s clear in their defensive body postures. Vash grunts out. “Sheesh, is this how you’re gonna treat a prince …”
Then, he looks outside at the window behind them and his stomach immediately drops.
He leaps forward, the people shouting in surprise. Growling, Vash goes immediately to the emergency control panel, flicking on each switch and punching all buttons. He hears the people behind him shouting in surprise and fear as they finally notice just what kind of calamity is out there in the vastness of space, and he commands, voice fierce. “Code purple! Contact the main control panel now!”
“Captain, you take over!” He shouts as they all go into their positions, Vash watches them with satisfaction before slowly retreating back to where he knows the emergency shuttles are.
They all don’t notice, busily trying to get out of the way of what they identify as a laser nuclear beam radiation.
Now if you ask Vash, certified galactic expert, is it dangerous?
Yes.
Can it blow up the whole ship?
Yes.
Does Vash care about that right now?
Actually, yes. But Nai won’t let the ship blow up and during that commotion, Vash can easily escape without anyone knowing where he’s going. Vash has faith Nai won’t even think of him, busy as he is with the stupid lavish banquet and their current laser beam problem.
Vash can kiss anyone who had stupidly launched that nuclear laser beam. Sure, they practically declared war against their kingdom led by his malicious twin brother but hey, it’s helping grant Vash his freedom!
He climbs into one of the emergency pods, shuts the hatch, kicks the gear in with his left boot while his right one steps on the start pedal. His nimble fingers click the belt in as the countdown starts from a daunting 10 seconds.
Tucking his bag in the compartment, he puts on his glasses, a safety precaution to whatever kind of radiation is out there. He wraps his gloved fingers around the cool control handle, ears hearing the feminine system voice counting down.
“Three.”
“VASH!”
Lifting his head, he jostles as Nai comes running into the room. His face looks stricken with dread as it dawns on him what Vash is doing.
“Two.”
Nai is running towards him, desperation evident. Vash can’t look, he squeezes his eyes shut, trying to drown Nai’s voice with the robotic female one in his shuttle.
“One.”
“I’m sorry, Nai.” Vash whispers, and without a doubt, Nai hears it through their mental link.
It will be the last time Nai hears him for a while - maybe forever, if Vash desires so.
He can do it if he wants to, Nai knows.
Nai is screaming, but Vash doesn’t hear him as he’s launched backwards. A few seconds of dizzying hurtling motions and he’s out into outer space, the SEEDS ship of his home slowly becoming smaller until it’s a tiny speck in the vast universe.
Vash spares a sad smile. He tries to brush away the guilt of leaving, trying not to drown in his sorrow
Sighing, he pushes away the sickening thoughts trying to invade his mind. He instead navigates the pod, searching in the digital map a good planet with civilisation to land on and start making his haste through the universe. No one can track down his pod, he has made sure to tinker with the GPS connecting it and the SEEDS ship a few days prior, taking a step further by secretly interfering with the ship’s route plan. Safe to say, he is prepared.
What he doesn’t expect is another beam of that goddamn nuclear laser.
He yelps as it just comes out of nowhere, a giant ray of definitely unsafe radiation threatening to burn his eyes if it isn’t for the safety of the pod’s glass and his own visions. He barely has the opportunity to yank the pod out of the way, the wing of his pod grazing minimally over it, but Vash knows he’s doomed even before the blinking red sirens start to light on his screen.
“Come on, come on, come on.” Flicking his fingers, he tries to use the spare engine, noticing it melting away at an alarming rate from the heat of that attack. The yellow warning sign in front of him is taunting him, digital texts telling him to parachute out and use his tank of limited oxygen before the pod crashes into some uninhabited planet and explodes its lights off.
Well, Vash is not doing so!
“I just got my freedom and this is what I get next?!” He yowls, wanting to rip his hair out from stress. Sweat is beginning to gather at his temple as he tries to find a way that is not waiting for help, which can be Nai dragging his ass back home and grounding him for millennia.
That last part isn't going to happen, considering the other thing waiting for him is something that even Nai’s elusive power can’t prevent.
“Think, Vash. Think!” He flits his eyes around, deft fingers flying on the keyboard. He takes a glance at the digital map and instantly, an idea lights up inside his brain.
He sets the pod’s destination towards one of the nearby planets, it shows signs of habitation judging from the climate colours. They look harsh - but a planet with living beings is better than a planet without one. At this rate, Vash is ready to accept anything coming his way.
Fingers tight on the wheel, Vash blinks the panicking tears away as the pod descends into the atmosphere.
He prays that the living beings here are friendly.
“So, how far did that go?”
Livio doesn’t pull down his enhanced binoculars, he hums, sounding amused. “Not sure, but it definitely beats that last shot by iles, Nico.”
Whistling, Nicholas looks up at the purplish night sky. He squints behind his sunglasses, imagining finding the leftover ray of the absurdly but fantastically latest makeover of his weapon. He takes a glance at Livio beside him, who looks satisfied as he finally puts down the pair of binoculars.
Nicholas stretches languidly, nothing beats testing weaponry for a nice brother bonding moment, never mind that it ticks two boxes out of the pollution category; light and noise. At least the former everyone loves it, the kids love a good lightshow before getting tucked into bed. The latter, well, meh, can’t be worse than a gun showdown.
Plopping his butt onto the sand, he pulls out his lighter, flipping it as he lights up the constant cigarette stick presence inside his mouth. He feels his limbs relaxing.
Ahhhh, now this is the best thing ever. Space pollution coupled with a pack of cigarettes and everything’s fine and dandy, not to mention his nice cute supportive little brother Livio -
“So, are you ready to go back?”
Never mind, Livio is neither nice nor cute nor supportive.
Feeling his left eyebrow twitch in annoyance, Nicholas angrily huffs out smoke. He avoids Livio’s prying eyes as he says something else entirely instead. “Do you think any star got razed down?”
Thankfully, he’s ready to entertain Nicholas. Probably an act to dig out Nicholas’s inner masochism or feed his own sibling's desire to watch Nicholas struggle like a worm dying out in the heat. “Not a chance. We were in perfect orbit for direct testing with no interference. The space traffic also didn’t seem busy.”
Nicholas sighs. “Shame.” He comments dryly.
Not that there’s any truth in it. The amount of space politics that Nicholas needs to handle if he accidentally melted some spaceship will be horrifying. He’s already pushing all his paperwork about his nightly ‘Weapon Testing: No Man’s Land’ activities for the Despair Galaxy Bureau to Zazie, whom he knows will definitely send out tiny glowing carnivorous worms to the stuck-up authorities some lightyear away.
There’s a reason why he has two secretaries; Zazie and Livio. One irresponsible and one responsible.
Livio comments. “Unless someone gets into our weapon testing range, there will be zero chance of anything bad happening.”
Nicholas can’t help but let out a huge snort. “Whoever actually does that is an idiot.”
They settle into comfortable silence. Livio continues to stargaze with his binoculars, mercifully not bringing up the dreaded question. Nicholas smokes, enjoying the free time he has before he must report to duty.
He must have been a quarter through the package when Livio gasps loudly.
Nicholas turns his head, narrowing his eyes at what looks like a shooting star passing by - only that it’s not a shooting star and highly possibly a meteor burning through the atmosphere.
Nicholas leaps to his feet, yanks his sunglasses off to have a better look and okay - that does not look good.
“Was there any meteorite warning, Livio?” He barks out, hand stretched out.
Livio easily hands his binoculars over. Nicholas doesn’t waste time fiddling with the knobs as he raises them to his eyes. “None that I know of. We have a clean record of no meteorites happening for centuries!”
Cursing under his breath, he adjusts the settings quickly, zooming in to estimate the size of what the crater will be. “It’s not too big, it looks pretty small. Do we have any towns nearby prone to impact?”
There’s rustling and a familiar beeping sound. Livio has pulled out his tablet, searching for any crucial information they have at the moment. “Yes! Two iles North-West!”
Nicholas wishes wishes wishes he can smoke a cigarette right now, but unfortunately duty calls. And it freaking sucks.
Grinning madly, he reaches for the discarded weapon on the sand in front of him. “What better way to test a weapon than against a motherfucking meteor?”
“Nico -”
Cackling, Nicholas cocks his gun, unlatching the safety on it.
“You better not be doing what I’m thinking you’re doing.”
“Too late, Livio!”
“You’ll have the Despair Galaxy officers coming at your ass! Before the royal banquet!”
“It’s in the goddamn royalty protocol! A king’s gotta do what he’s gotta do to protect his citizens!”
“THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE SHOOTING AN UNIDENTIFIED METEOR!”
“YES, IT DOES!”
Livio’s loudly moaning now. Nicholas ignores him, latching the lock mode on the brightass meteor coming to destroy some tiny part of the planet. Not going to lie, Nicholas has some conflicted feelings with No Man’s Land as a whole even before he won the lottery ding dong to become a king. The deserts, the constant violence he’s been trying to curb since forever and their poor location route preventing them from getting some decent business galaxy partners - but these are his citizens, dammit. And he might be forced to wear that heavy crown since he was a wee ten years old, but he’s going to be a good king if he has to.
He lets out a small victorious noise as the Punisher finally recognises its target.
“Bye bye, little shooting star.”
He bids that farewell and grins, letting the Punisher do its job.
Vash is panicking.
Did he say that? Anyways, he is panicking. A lot. Like a lot lot, Nai’s collection of knives lot.
Because his pod just got misinterpreted as a meteor and now the authorities on this planet are trying to gun him down.
Why must that laser also melted away his communication radio?! Vash looks sickly at the glaring warning sign of his pod being targeted and locked on. He knows there’s nothing he can do to reverse this, he built this emergency pod and drew its blueprints, okay!
Which means there’s only one way to do this and Vash is immediately terrified by the idea, but it’s either live or die, and frankly, Vash doesn’t want to die yet.
There are tears in his eyes, he wipes them away. Then the determination kicks in.
He grabs his bag, ignores the smoking hot metal of the pit, ignores how burning he is. He’s getting closer to the planet, closer to impact - closer to getting shattered into pieces and he needs to act fast. He unlatches his belt, his hands gripped tight around the rails upward to prevent himself from smashing into the back of the pod as heavy gravity pulls his body. He grunts, twists his body in the strong current as his fingers grapple for the emergency latch.
Squeezing the handle, Vash closes his eyes and twists it.
The effect is immediate. Vash gets swept away outside, screaming as he free falls away from the pod. It’s a good thing, as he manages to watch as the pod gets laser-beamed into pieces, chunks of metal flying apart and melting in the hot air so as to not have a chance of hitting the ground.
His eyes burn and he realises he might be crying, and is that one hysterical thought. Vash runs away in the first place because he doesn’t want to do his duties as an Independent Plant; as some sort of willing participant in a fucked-up royalty breeding program the Despair Galaxy likes to hold between kingdoms. And right now he’s heading towards his doom on a strange planet he had never heard or seen off due to his extremely sheltered life.
Great. Just freaking great.
He had been so good at suppressing negative thoughts, but that doesn’t mean they just magically disappeared. They had slowly crept out during the past few months on the ship; where it’s hard to ignore all the sudden attention on him. The way everyone treated him delicately, the etiquette lessons engraved into his body every waking minute and Nai distancing himself, ashamed to face him for things he can’t protect him from.
“Your ticket to the future is always blank, Vash. Remember that.”
Gasping, Vash grits his teeth.
No.
He won’t die here!
It’s painful to connect to his inner energy, a one of its kind in this entire galaxy, but Vash forces himself. It’s a sensation that tingles his whole body, makes his roaring blood pump louder with more exhilaration. And soon, his back aches and white and golden feathers burst out from his skin, splattering the darkness of the night with feathers and splatters of blood.
It hurts like hell, but Vash powers through the pain, letting his extra limbs help him not to crash with full momentum on this planet.
Nicholas puts the Punisher back onto the ground, smirking as he looks up at his handiwork. “Now that’s a nice demo.”
Behind him, Livio sighs mournfully. “I hope you have an explanation for the bureau just why we have this kind of disastrous firepower.”
“That’s where you come in, Livio.”
“Asshole.”
“Hey, is that a way to speak to your big bro?!” Nicholas gasps, fakely affronted.
Rolling his eyes, Livio shoots back. “You taught me those words, big bro.”
Nicholas grumbles, hearing Livio walk away probably to find peace and quiet, and definitely contact Zazie or one of the girls. He knows this needs some pretty big damage control and the galaxy higher-ups won’t be happy when they get informed (because they always do, the creeps) with this little offshoot planet having enough firepower to rival their biggest kingdom’s.
Nicholas doesn’t give a damn.
A pro of being the king of an offshoot planet; he can do basically anything he wants because no other ruler in the galaxy will take offense to it.
Not until he has a union with some big shot kingdom in space, but that’ll never happen.
Shuffling for another cigarette, he’s ready to light it up when he sees something falling down. He thinks it’s some stray debris and is prepared to watch it crash in the uninhabited desert, but when it gets closer, Nicholas realises it’s certainly not an object as it turns out to be a person.
Eyes wide, he freezes on the spot as the person turns out to be a falling angel - because the person happens to have wings, wings of gold and white. They’re falling, down and down and down and Nicholas is rooted to the spot as he can only watch the angel falling towards him, an explosion of bright colours against the starry curtain of space and sky.
He doesn’t remember spreading his arms, only aware that as the angel falls into his arms, knocking them both onto the ground painfully, he can only think of one thing.
What the hell?
a pair of wings for me at this moment
to soar above this world
turn into a shooting star that briefly shines
but warms up every heart
may all the beauty be blessed