Chapter Text
Ever since Sigma has been a little girl she has lived here, up high in this tower that was very spacious and homey with her father. Her father loved her and took extra special care of her because she was very different compared to other little girls. See, Sigma had something very important and it was her hair. No, really, it's very serious! Her hair was the most important part about her to her father and the very reason that she was kept up in her tower so far away from the world at large.
For you see, a very long time ago, when Sigma hadn’t even been born there was a very magical flower that had given life to everything around it, even during the bitterest of winters the forest around it bloomed as though it were still spring. This flower had been a gift from the moon and everyone had wanted to find it, more often than not for very selfish reasons. But Fyodor, Sigma’s father had wanted it for a very particular reason. Because, when Sigma was just born she was very sick, her mother had died and she would soon follow if he hadn’t hurried. So he went out in search of the flower and pulled it up by its roots for he knew cutting the stem or any other part could cause it to lose its magical ability, so he took the flower home to her and she drank of its nectar and suddenly she was well. As a result her hair grew in two shades, the pale shimmering white of the moon and the faint lilac of the sun setting. It was a gift, and with it had come an even more important gift. For Sigma had been given the gift of healing, able to use her hair to keep her father young and healthy even through all the years. The only thing she had to do in return was to sing a very special song.
They had lived in the village once, you see. A very long time ago, long before Sigma could ever remember. But that was a bad idea, a mistake. One night when Sigma was a baby there had come some robbers who were not there for jewels or gold but for something of more value. Sigma’s hair. They had cut and cut but, of course, if you separate it from its roots the whole plant dies. Luckily before they could take all of it her father had noticed and put a stop to them, taking her into the night and finding a safer place to keep her.
At least, that's the story that Fyodor had always told her.
And she had always trusted what her father told her. What reason did he have to lie to her?
So Sigma had grown in the tower, but there was always a longing inside her to go outside; just once at least. But, her father knew what was best for her, he always had, so she had simply stayed inside. Besides, he had been willing to get her anything she asked so she would never need to leave. He got her books to teach her and dresses to wear and paints to, well, paint with and fabrics to learn to sew. She had all sorts of entertainment but she still felt so alone. Well, not alone, she always had her father, but it was different. The other little girls in her books always had some sort of friend apart from their fathers or mothers, often they had a lot of friends and they had a lover more times than not.
She stopped feeling so alone one odd summer day at age fifteen when she had been lounging under the sun where her window was open, enjoying the warmth on her skin. There had been quiet for most of the day but around noon at some point she heard the rustling of something in her closet. Then came a loud yowl.
At first she had been frightened, holding up a cast iron skillet as her preferred weapon (Fyodor had forbidden most things that could possibly seriously hurt her or cut her, he always worried about her) and backed away quickly. Then came another loud yowl, like a cry of pain. And, if there was something in pain she could help it. She could heal it and possibly even let it return to the real world. She opens her closet door carefully, glancing inside and seeing a small little kitty curled up in the corner. It hissed at her hand as she reached out to pet it.
“It’s alright, there's no need to be afraid. I wanna help you.” She whispers, offering her hand once more to let the little one sniff at it. The kitty does and she takes her time coaxing it out into the light so she can get a better look at it.
Nothing seems wrong at first before she notices a splotch of red coating the poor kitty's back legs. She keeps mumbling to herself as she works, trying to calm down the poor little guy. He seems to trust her as she gently wraps her hair around his injured leg.
“Flower gleam and glow,” she begins, singing the song her father had taught her softly. Her hair already glows, a soft white light emanating from it and encompassing the wound. The kitty seemed to calm considerably as she worked. Finally, she could untangle her hair from the leg with a smile. The kitty purred and stalked up to her with a meow, rubbing its face against her hand.
“I suppose you want to go home now.” She mumbles, letting it sniff at her hand once more. “You wouldn’t want to stay here, right? It’s rather boring but I do wish you could stay longer.”
And she had let the kitty down with her hair helping the journey, and the second the kitty was on the ground it howled again. It meowed at the base of her tower for most of the day so she finally relented and let it back up. Perhaps it was simply alone, like her. Maybe it needed a friend too.
“Flower,” her father had begun as they began to eat their dinner. “You haven’t seen a cat around here, right?” She shakes her head, the kitty was in her room hidden under her bed (it was a surprisingly obedient creature) and her father couldn’t know because he was sure to get rid of it. “Ah, it’s not your fault, I just thought I heard a cat meowing while I was out today.”
She’d felt horrible for lying, but she felt so wonderful having a companion that she could trust. And, she wasn’t alone anymore. She would never feel alone anymore. Because she had Atsushi (it had taken much trial and error to pick that name as the kitty seemed to have some very strong opinions on it) and the lights.
What are the lights? Oh, have I not mentioned them yet?
You see, there was something else that was special about Sigma and that was what happened on her birthday, ever since she was a small child she would look out her window at the stars in fascination. She had even begged her father for a book on astronomy once. But, every year, right on her birthday, the floating lights came up over the horizon and every year on her birthday she would go to her window and look at them. They were not stars because they would float up above the cliff side surrounding them and the ways they flickered were different. The stars were cold and distant but these lights would shine in bright hues of orange and yellow, like a candle more than a star. She liked to imagine they were for another little girl to celebrate her, one who meant the world to her parents because she was special too in some way. Perhaps a princess or a very special scholar or magic wielder like her. It made her think that, perhaps, there were other special little people in the world and she was not the only one treated differently by their fathers and mothers.
(I suppose I should tell you now that those lights were for a very important person. For she was a princess and her father had loved her dearly and the whole kingdom had mourned for her when she was taken away. But the king and his children held faith, had hoped that there was a way she had lived and that she would find her way back to them. But as the years grew on the king lost hope. The lights became more a memorial than a sign of hope, that perhaps their princess could return one day.)
~~~
For Sigma, a typical day looks like this.
At six she wakes up and gets dressed for the day and prepares breakfast so that she can eat by six thirty. She makes sure that Atsushi is fed as well and gets started on the chores, primarily cleaning the floors and dusting every surface she could, most times this would be redundant as the tower was always spotless so long as she was here and she would always be here but it kept her mind active and gave her something to do.
She modestly spends the morning sitting near the window, trying to soak up as much sun as she possibly could and reading one of her books. She was especially fond of her astronomy book even though she had practically memorized all the facts in it by now. She still enjoyed the drawings, covering the names of constellations and trying to say them off by heart and trailing her hand along the Milky Way. She had tried once to discuss what she had learned but her father did not care for her rambling off on random tangents so she instead read her books aloud to Atsushi who, even if he didn’t care never showed it as he always sat patiently until she was done talking.
By noon she was done re-reading her books again and was able to make a bit of lunch normally followed by baking something new with whatever food her father had picked up recently. And today it was a blackberry pie, something she had always wanted to try. After that she prepped her painting supplies, tied her hair back (she had quite a lot by now which trailed behind her all over the tower and Fyodor had forbidden her from tying it up but so long as she pulled it from the ribbon once he came home she would be fine. She painted often, most of the walls covered in her drawings ranging from childish and not very good to the expert level she had gotten to.
Today she had something very special planned.
This has been her exact routine for the past eighteen years, or at least once she was able to take relatively good care of herself and was left alone for longer periods of time. And today would be no different because why on earth would it be? She was simply going to have to get used to it.
But today would be special, because she would make one last plea to her father for something very special. Today was two days from her birthday and she wanted to ask her father for something she’s wanted for a very long time.
She had asked once before to see the lights up close, to be taken to where they were set free and see them up close rather than from her tiny window. She even had a special painting she would be doing for the occasion. She was eighteen now, going on nineteen so surely her father could spare the trip. She was no longer a child and they could hide her away from the eyes of the people. She trusted her father to protect her even outside of her tower.
Once she has finished her painting (her imagined world where the lights came from a source, a castle, and they had drifted up across the sky to join the stars) she hears her name called. She hurries into action, rushing Atsushi away to hide and pulling the ribbon from her hair. Before hurrying over to the window, hooking her hair around the pulley system they had and tossing the rest of it down. The familiar weight comes next and she pulls him up quickly but carefully, having gotten so used to this over the years.
It was still nice to see such a familiar face. The only familiar face she knew.
“Good morning father,” she smiles as he sits on the window ledge, swinging his legs over the side and pulling off his cloak, quickly walking over to the little hanger. She knew to wait, patient and still for he would come to her soon enough. He slowly turns to her and she opens her mouth once again. “Father, I have something very important to–”
“Sigma, it’s been a very long day for me.” She perks up already knowing what that meant. She quickly works, sliding over his arm chair and her little stool like she always had since she was a child. He takes one of her many, many hairbrushes and quickly gets to work as she rushes her way through the song. He huffs out a laugh as she quickly turns to face him once she is completed.
“So father, I was thinking of what I wanted for my birthday this year and I’ve come to my decision.”
“Birthday, is that already here? Sigma, dear, you truly are growing too fast.” He laughs to himself, picking up his basket full of food they couldn’t get in their tower and beginning to sort what went where.
“Well, yeah and since I’m a lot older than I was and I can kinda take better care over my hair and myself I was thinking about something that we could do for my birthday and it’s really important to me and I would really like to–” She is cut off as Fyodor holds up a hand with a chuckle.
“You know how much I hate your ramblings Sigma, please just get to the point.” She nods, jumping onto the mantle over the small fireplace and pulling aside the centerepiece.
“I want to see the lights!” Sigma is all too happy as she stares at her father as his face twists in confusion.
“The stars?” He asks, wiping his hands off on a nearby towel and walking closer to where she stands. “But, dear, you can do that at any time.”
“No, they aren’t stars. I’m sure of it!” She thinks of her astronomy book still tucked away in her bedroom, the parchment she had spent hours pouring over for the most accuracy. “I’ve charted the stars before and these are different, the way they move and flicker is not quite like stars.” Fyodor’s face falls further as she continues to speak, settling into a slight scowl. “And, I would like to see them up close. Please? Then I’ll never ask to leave again.”
“Sigma,” his voice is wary and she hesitantly jumps down to get back onto his level, feeling bad for trying to be above him. “Flower, I know you want to leave but it is still very dangerous, there are more people that wander this area and they are searching for you. Some days I fear my magic is not enough to keep you safe.” He pulls her close and tilts her head to kiss the crown of it right between where it had been cut once before. “Not now, but one day perhaps.” She keeps her head bowed and hands clasped together as he walks past her quickly towards his room.
He slams the door behind him, clearly done with this conversation and she stands there for a moment hearing the lock click into place, hands tangled in her dress as guilt washed over her, making slight tears form in her eyes. She shouldn’t have tried after he’d had such a bad day. He was clearly tired from his journey, she hoped he hadn’t used too much of his magic today trying to keep her safe, she was truly undeserving of such a kind father.
She needs something to do with her hands so she makes them some dinner, placing a bowl of the stew on the little table beside Fyodor’s room before retiring to her own, the curtain swinging behind her as she sits at her desk. The food tastes like ash in her mouth.
Maybe tomorrow she could try again.
~~~
For Dazai Osamu a typical day did not entirely consist of him racing along the top of a castle in an effort to get a priceless crown that had been safeguarded since the princess of a kingdom supposedly died but hey, everyone made money in their own ways. And it’s not that he hated this, there was a sort of rush he always got jumping from rooftop to rooftop. But there was something particularly horrible about his recent, shall we say, partners in crime. He jokes around with his fellow thief that this truly was the life, running around at nearly eight in the morning and already breaking a sweat shortly after the sun had risen. Neither seemed all too amused by his ramblings but he wasn’t too amused with them choosing to send him into the room to get it but wow, standing at the very top of this castle was quite a sight.
“Oh yeah, this is the kinda view I want.” He says as he stands right near the edge. “Yep, I wanna throw myself off something like this one day.” He says with certainty, placing his hands on his hips, a shit eating grin on his face knowing precisely how much it irked his partners. It was fine though, once he grabbed this crown he’d leave them behind somewhere along the road.
“You can throw yourself off once you get us the damned crown.” The darker haired of the two, Mori was his name or something like that. He already had the rope all ready.
“I still say I get majority from this, I am the one actually grabbing the thing right?” He sashays his way over, tightening his hold on the satchel on his shoulder. “Y’know, that's business.”
“And we’re the ones that took the job offer, now get down there idiot.” The other one, Fukuchi growls shoving him towards the loose tile on the roof that for some reason led straight down to the crown. Y’know, if this thing was truly so important you would think that the king would have gone to further lengths to guard it.
He huffs as he is slowly lowered into the room, the only guards there are a sleeping brunet and a fully awake blonde currently blowing his nose into a handkerchief. He swiftly pockets the crown before he can notice and stuffs it into his bag.
“Allergies?” He asks, noticing the way the guard doesn’t seem to think as he nods his head. “Y’know leaving a cut open onion beneath your pillow helps with that.” He teases with a wide grin as the man turns to him.
“Thanks for the advice.” With that he pulls the rope twice and is pulled up by the time the guard can register what was happening and as a cry of alarm rings out beneath him he is already sprinting off along the rooftop with a whoop of laughter which his partners try to silence him for. They are out of the kingdom by the time the king is able to get the royal guard after them and Osamu is far too busy considering how unbelievably rich he would get from this. His dream would come true soon, he could repay his debt.
~~~
For Nakahara Chuuya a typical day was spent primarily by the king's side as his acting captain he was to only be sent out on the most important of cases and spent most of his time guarding the royal family or strategizing with his king and it was the best damn job he could ask for. Breakfasts were always a wild time with how many children there were in the castle.
And he had been hoping that this calming chaos he had gotten used to by now would last the whole day but it’s barely half past eight when a fellow guard, Kunikida, one he actually enjoyed the company of bursts into the room with the absolute worst possible way this day could go.
“The princess’ crown, it’s been stolen!”
And, yeah, that constitutes an important enough case for him to get involved.
Fukuzawa stands easily, his eyes darkening considerably as he snaps to Chuuya. “You will not let them get away.” He nods, making his way over to Kunikida.
“I swear it to you, my king.” He knew not to argue over this, more for Fukuzawa’s sake than his own. Swiftly excusing himself from the room he rushes after Kunikida down the halls and to the stables in relative silence. He knew Kunikida felt guilty over this. He knew Fukuzawa would be devastated if they failed, he didn’t even need to see the way he had fallen back into his chair once Chuuya left, nearly sick with worry and the hole in his heart grew just a bit wider. He didn’t need to see the way Yosano had carefully taken him back to his room and let him rest for a moment as she took over everything else for the day.
Poor man had lost one of his most beloved daughters to some cruel monster for no foreseeable reason and they were all still reeling from the recent disappearance of their prince. The whole kingdom had thought she was surely dead, even Chuuya believed it. But the royal family held faith, Chuuya believed it was just because of their grief they did. Fukuzawa was a man who felt heavily for all his children and those he saw as his children, even if it didn’t always seem like that. Chuuya knew, because he had seen first hand how deeply the man loved his family even though none of his children were his biologically. He was the first one to consider Chuuya a human, the first to take him under his wing.
And, after the princess, maybe he deserved to have a singular keepsake. Chuuya would never forgive the person who had taken it. He mounts his horse quickly, hopping onto the saddle and racing towards the edge of the kingdom, the only route in or out unless going by sea. Arahabaki was one of their fastest but even now she felt so slow compared to how fast his mind raced.
He had only taken a small party, a handful of men along with Kunikida, his right hand man.
He would get this criminal and bring back the princess’ crown if it killed him and he would not return until he had it. He would stop at nothing to ensure Fukuzawa could rest a bit easier.
~~~
Osamu was far too out of breath by the time they stopped for just a moment, far enough away they had a relatively decent head start. He always hated the running part, he was skinny enough that he could fit into any hole and charming enough to bribe his way out of things but running, no way. He died after about five minutes of the thing, his bandages already soaking up the sweat like it was nothing. It just so happened as well that the tree he had leaned against held his very own wanted poster, a ten thousand dollar reward! Not too bad if you asked him.
“Oh god, oh fuck this is really bad.” He says, looking it over as he pulls it from the tree, his fake name plastered over it. His partners look at him like he's gone mad. “They just can’t get my face right! I mean, am I really that elusive that they’ve never seen me before?”
“Would you get over yourself, it's because you were caught we’re running right now.” He grins easily, stuffing his own wanted poster into the bag at his side as the sound of hooves approach them. He laughs as he begins to run once more, following his partners closely. Along the way, somehow, Mori had was tossed the satchel and was now holding it close as they ran. Osamu knew this was the plan, that Mori was the one who was meant to escape this alive but, forgive him if he had other plans.
So he climbs his way over the cliff they had been cornered in, using his past skill of pick-pocketting as a child to swiftly pull the satchel up with a bit of sleight of hand that Mori hadn’t noticed. And he almost has to laugh when they tell him to pull them up.
“Sorry boys,” he lifts the satchel with a smirk as they stare at him in horror. “My hands are full.” He rushes off with a giggle.
“Tsushima!” They call after him, but hey, that’s business. And it's their fault in the first place for even trusting him.
He runs through the woods with whoops and holars as the sound of men on horseback follow him. He grips the bag in his hand tighter and ducks just as he hears the sound of crossbows unloading. He stops for just a moment to grab a few of the arrows that land in the grass beside him as he runs.
He needed some sort of escape route and spotted a few bramble bushes and darts straight for them. Only one horse is brave enough to follow him, and it's more by the urging of the rider on its back.
“Stop right there!” The voice of his lone pursuer echoing after him as he runs, still plucking a few of the thorns from his hands. He knew that voice and he knew what would happen if he was caught. He really didn’t want to have that conversation just yet.
Making a split second decision he tosses one of the arrows he had grabbed back towards the man chasing him and watches as it lands right before his black horse, digging into the ground right in front of it, it bucks and the man comes flying right at him. Apparently all goes according to plan for the captain as Osamu is tackled and the two of them roll a little ways down a rather steep hill going head over heels for a few minutes, coming to a stop once Osamu is pinned to the ground and there is a weight on his chest, rather familiar and hands that pin his wrists to the ground.
“You fucking asshole, you almost hit my horse!” Screams the all too familiar voice of an all too familiar redhead.
“Ah, Chuuya, long time no see.” He says, keeping his voice light and sing-songy even as he tries to catch his breath. “How's the wife, how's the kids?”
“You know more than anyone I’m not having a wife or kids, Dazai.” He snarls, slowly letting up and easing off the brunet's chest, sitting on the ground beside him instead. Osamu had missed this, the easy banter that they once had. He had missed his name. Only a bit. He wonders faintly where it had gone wrong. He knows where, it still hurts to think about. But he had made his promise. And now look at him; only ever taking from the person who had helped him so much.
“Well, what about that second in command.” He laughs at the slight flush on the others cheeks as he turns his head down to the ground with a slight pout. “Rather handsome one, but a bit stupid sometimes.”
“He’s not stupid, it’s just that you’re so insufferable that your stupid rubs off on others.” He watches carefully as Chuuya stands, adjusts his gloves before bending down to offer a hand to Osamu. He takes it, a bit weary as he is hoisted up to his feet. “Listen, Dazai. We can do this the easy way where I take you back and you apologize and the king lets you off scott free once you’ve returned the crown or we chase each other around these woods for three days straight until our own exhaustion and grief drive us mad and raving.” He doesn’t like either option. Honestly, he wasn’t even planning on selling the crown, he was actually just helping them to catch some criminals believe it or not.
“Don’t you think I miss her too?” He asks, growing serious, a hand trailing down to where the straps of the satchel rest against his hip. Rubbing at the leather carefully, thinking of the purple and white studded tiara kept safely inside. Of the girl who it belonged to. Thinking of the first time he ever saw her face when his father had taken him with him to work where he got to sit with her a full fifteen minutes, just holding her and looking at her face and hair and eyes. He missed those eyes. He wonders if she was scared, having to watch someone die before being taken from her family. He then wonders if she was even old enough to remember any of that, if she had lived, unaware of what had happened to her.
“We were two years old when she was born, how do you think Fukuzawa feels?” Chuuya snaps suddenly, grabbing at his shirt collar with a glare as he drags Osamu down to his level. He scoffs, tossing him a bit further away with a much more somber expression. “You barely even got to hold her back then.” He knows Chuuya’s guilt all too well.
Chuuya was set in place as the personal guard of the princess upon the request of his father, he would be her primary companion and protector but now that she was gone his role had changed just a bit. He can imagine how bad he must feel for letting her be taken and killed even if there was nothing he could have done.
“Maybe it’s time the kingdom moves on.”
“Oh you son of a–” Before the captain can react Osamu has kicked up some of the dirt they are standing on into Chuuya’s eyes, watching him cry out in pain and a bit of alarm as he rushes off. He was willing to go the hard way as he ran to a nearby cave entrance where he could hide away until he was a rotting skeleton, not exactly the death he had in mind but still a death.
He ignores the cries of Chuuya, calling his name as he runs wildly through the forest calling out to Osamu as he wanders further into the little cave, the light at the other side getting steadily brighter and brighter as he does.
Waiting for him on the other side is something he truly hadn’t been expecting.
There was a tower, it had to be at least thirty feel tall just sitting in the middle of the clearing. He is shocked but, based on the amount of vines growing along the sides it had to have long since been abandoned so he could just stay here until Chuuya lost his mind trying to search for him. He takes a deep breath, silently mumbling curses to himself, taking out one of his knives and making his way over to the base of the tower. There were a few places where he could place his hands and he was more than used to worse climbing conditions but something about this climb drained him and by the time he was at the very top, crawling his way into the main room with a few grunts.
He finally sits at the very bottom of the sill where he had entered. Clutching the satchel close he glances around the room he had entered, taking note of the vast amount of paintings and drawings covering nearly every surface. The chairs and table had been set out like someone had just recently eaten and the fireplace crackled. By the time he looks over to a little window seat he spots the cast iron skillet heading straight for the side of his head and it’s a bit too late to stop it by that point.
~~~
Sigma had been in the middle of finishing a new painting right above her window as the man stumbles into her tower, it's rather unceremonious and he falls flat on his face once he’s in before leaning against the windowsill clutching a bag close to his chest and looking around with wide eyes. She works fast, placing her paintbrush and pallet down on a nearby dresser and rushing to the kitchen, picking up the nearest weapon shaped object and hitting the man across the face. She then proceeded to back away several paces and sat on the ground next to where Atsushi had been sleeping until the resounding ‘clang’ that had woken him.
“Oh, father is going to be so worried.” The white and black cat stares up at her for a moment, slowly blinking before making his way over to the now unconscious man. “Atsushi, stay back he might have rabies or something!” She whisper yells, crawling after her cat as he sits right before the man, sniffing at his hair, a deep chocolate brown and paws a bit on the bandages around his neck, no doubt hiding some kind of hideous deformity or disease. Or maybe he was like that one story Sigma had read where a woman’s head came off if she took off her scarf!
She pulls her cat away carefully, sliding him closer to her as she scrutinizes the man further. He… looks hurt, and it’s possible that Sigma had given him a concussion and… yeah, she feels a bit bad even if the man was here to take her away, to chop off all her hair and never let her see her father again. But she still doesn’t trust him so she only lays a bit of her hair on him and sings the song quickly before grabbing him by the shoulders and walking over (with great difficulty) to her closet.
Once he is safely locked inside Sigma silently freaked out. “Oh god, I just hit a man.” He says into her palm which she had used to cover her horrified expression. She’d just gotten into her first fight… and she won!
“Atsushi, do you know what this means?” She asked him, happily as she crouched by his side, swiftly picking him up by his two front legs and spinning the two of them around. She giggled as she slowed, hopping on her feet as she did. “That means I can leave. You saw me there, I can defend myself!” She places the poor cat down as he meows at her, waltzing over to the satchel. “I’m gonna see the light!” She halts her laughter when she notices the way Atsushi tugs at it, as if it were important or more likely that it had food. “Atsu, c’mon, leave that thing alone.”
She reaches down to pull him away and spots the now open cover. She hesitatingly reaches out and pulls the bag up, Atsushi waiting patiently at her feet. “What on Earth…” she silently questions as she looks inside. The bag is mostly empty apart from some paper, a handful of smaller gold pieces and a tiara. As she pulls it out she studies it for a moment.
It was a really fancy thing, not something she considered the man to even be in possession of. Had he… had he stolen this? Or was he like, a merchant who sold crowns and he was giving this away to some king or queen or something? Maybe, she should probably let him go, but only after proving to her father. Atsushi looks up at her and blinks slowly, face twitching with his whiskers. “Oh, don’t look at me like that.” She says jokingly.
There's a mirror behind her and she turns to it slowly, placing the crown upon her head and besides being just a bit small on her it fits perfectly. Like it was made for her. Even the jewels compliment her hair, the little hints of gold popping out among the white and deep, rich purple. It almost looks natural on her and Atsushi seems to purr just a bit louder as she stares at herself. She felt like royalty in this crown, even with her peasant dress and lack of shoes or anything like that. This thing must cost a fortune for someone very important.
“Sigma!” She jolts at the sound of her father calling for her. Quickly she tears off the crown and ushers Atsushi upstairs and into her room before dropping the satchel into the nearest pot. “I have a surprise for you today!” He calls out to her as she begins to lower her hair, slightly shaken at what is going on, brain frazzled as she considers what had just transpired a few moments ago.
“Same here!” Sigma says back hearing as her father laughs loud and jovially. He’s in a better mood today it seems. And she's sure he’ll be happy to hear what she did.
Sigma watches nervously as her father slides his way into the tower, a lot more graceful than the man she had just met.
“For your pre-birthday dinner we’re going to make molasses cookies!” She felt her heart warm, it wasn’t often they were able to make them but they had quickly become her favourite in the odd time she could have them. It was nice to know her father was so generous to consider something like that and work toward being able to make them again. Molasses was something that was much harder to get.
“Oh, well thank you father! Now I–”
“Oh dear, this place really looks a mess today. Perhaps we should clean up a bit before we work.”
“Um, father about yesterday.” She begins again, making her way over to the closet where the man had been kept, placing her hand on the door. “Because I really do think I’m ready to go outside finally. I’m not a child anymore and I can–”
“I had believed this conversation was over, flower.” He snaps as he places down his basket, Sigma doesn’t notice the way his face twists in a hint of frustration. He turns to her, his cape fluttering around him as he does, taking a few steps to get closer to her.
“I know but if you’d just listen–”
“Oh sweetheart, I know you want to believe you’re strong but your–”
“I am strong,” she feels a bit bad for interrupting him but she really needed him to understand. He hand tightens around the handle as he stalks just a bit closer. “I know I can handle myself out there!” She begins to open it. “I just want to see–”
“Enough with the lights Sigma! You will never, ever leave this tower!” His hand flies up and she flinches back rather aggressively. She hears his hitch of breath and feels the immediate shame. She knew he hadn’t meant to scare her, but she always hated when he yelled at her, he was always such a cool and collected man that his voice even slightly louder than normal made her frightened.
“Great, now I’m the villain.” He sighs, bringing up his hand to rub at the bridge of his nose with a slight scowl, no doubt at his own actions. She clutches her arm and slouches in on herself as he stands there, taking a moment to compose herself. “Flower, dear. Anything, anything else you want and I swear I will get it for you.”
She forces down her tears for a moment with a heavy swallow, taking a deep breath and reminding herself that Fyodor would never intentionally hurt her. “Paint,” she mumbles before remembering her manners, clearing her throat and speaking again. “The shells you brought back and we made paint from them together, they were really beautiful colours and I thought it would be better than–” She halts her words. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble.”
“But, that's a five day journey. Are you sure you’ll be alright alone?” He asks, much gentler this time, placing a hand on her shoulder. She leans into it slightly, reminding herself that she was safe here with her father. But she had a plan, and that meant getting him away for at least two days. She nods, holding his hand where it rests on her shoulder.
“I love you.” She says, looking up to meet his eyes as they soften ever so slightly.
“I love you most.” He says, placing a final kiss to her hair. Before she knows it she's alone again. Before she knows it she’s got him wrapped up in a chair, stuck sitting there for the time being.
~~~
Osamu wakes up to a slight pain in his ankle. He yelps and jolts up to see a cat scampering off into the shadows. He tugs at whatever restraints he's been tied to and only then does he remember where he was and is that… hair? Of two colours? Strange, it’s been a long time since he’s seen something like that.
“St-Struggling is pointless, you won’t be able to escape.” A voice from above him calls, light and bell-like and he is even more confused by the bizarre scenario he just found himself in.
“Huh?” He says aloud, hearing from the shadows as something falls to the ground with a soft ‘thump’. He watches as a girl, probably a bit younger than him, steps out into the light. God, those eyes are familiar. And, god, she is absolutely stunning.
“Who are you, and why are you here?”
He’s so thrown aback it takes him a moment to put on his persona. Clearing his throat he begins, “Hey. The name’s Shuji Tsushima,” he punctuates this with a wink which makes the girl's face twist into confusion and a bit of disgust. “And I think the real question is what's a pretty girl like you living here?”
“T-That’s hardly any of your concern. What I want to know is why you came after my hair?”
What? “What?”
(Sigma worries for a moment that she had misjudged him and he truly did have no ill intentions with her or her hair and she had put on this whole performance for nothing but she shakes it off as she stalks around him in a way that she hopes is menacing like how it was in her books whenever something like this happened.)
Yeah, okay, this girl is really cute with the way she walks around him holding up a cast iron skillet as if that's supposed to scare him.
“No one just comes to my tower for no reason, so what brought you here?”
“An old friend.” He says simply and with a smile. “And honest to god, I want nothing to do with your hair. I don’t even know why you would want it, doesn’t that get heavy?” He imagines it would and feels just a bit bad for the girl. Maybe it held some sort of bragging right?
“You–” She cuts herself off before continuing, as if unsure. “You really… don’t?”
“Listen, the only thing I want to do is to take my…” Osamu stops, glancing around the room for any sign of the bag. “Oh no, what did you do with it?!” He yelps suddenly and is very worried. The King was already fairly certainly going to kill him but if he lost that crown he definitely would.
“It's gone and it’ll remain that way unless you do something to help me.” She tugs on her hair (there is still something so familiar about it) and pulls his chair over to look at the fireplace.
She jumps up and pulls a centerpiece away, revealing a stunningly beautiful painting. It was full of colours of the night sky and little dots that had to be stars with a castle rising up from the ground. “Every year these lights show up on my birthday, and I have my reasons to believe they are not stars so–”
“That lantern thing for the princess? It happens every year around this time.” He questions, thinking over possible reasons she may want to see them and why for her every birthday they appeared.
(Sigma’s heart swells. She knew it hadn’t been stars and the confirmation that they were for someone special made her heart flutter in her chest.)
“Yes, these ‘lanterns’ are my goal.” She points her skillet at him. “You will be my guide, take me to where they release them by tomorrow night and return me home safely and only then will you receive your satchel and everything it holds.”
He sighs as she glares a bit at him. “Listen, princess–”
“It’s Sigma.”
“So, princess. I can’t exactly take you there because the kingdom you want me to take you to I am very sought after, and not in the good way for your information.” He huffs out a breath as she jumps down, beginning to pull on her hair and walking closer to him. “I would suggest you try and find someone else who can–” He yelps as he is suddenly pulled over to her, a hand stopping him so they are practically looking right at each other, he feels his cheeks flush a bit at her unseen strength as she glares at him.
“Listen here, Shuji Tsushima.” Sigma’s voice grows deeper, more grave over the situation. He blushes a bit more. Okay, yes, he likes strong and intimidating women, so what? It’s not like he would crack just because of that! “If that even is your real name. You may search for as long as you like but you will not find your satchel without me so I would suggest you take my generosity seriously because I never break my promises.”
“There’s really no convincing you otherwise, huh?” He mumbles, thinking over all the ways he could ditch her or straight up manipulate her into giving in to his whims. He could pull this off, even if he had to evade capture for the next few days in order to do so. “Alright, very well. As you wish, princess.” He says with a groan, knowing full well there was no other way to convince her.
“Really?!” Her voice goes back to that light and bubbly one from before, she lets his chair fall back to the floor as she flaps her hands around, jumping a bit as the cat from before comes out and meows at him, rubbing up against the same leg he’d bit before.
Osamu sighs, knowing full well this was not going to be a fun few days. He wishes he had never stolen that damn crown.
~~~
Fyodor hadn't been walking long when he takes notice of the horse, laid in many of the fineeries of the royal guard. It sets off a few alarm bells in his head, but this was not entirely a strange sight, to see the guard patrolling along the borders of the forest. But they are close, too close for comfort. And, the horse is alone. Without any sign of its rider.
He hesitates for only a moment before making his way back down the forest path, he had gotten a good ways away but he doesn't run. That would alert them, whatever guard is looking for them and he couldn't have that. He wouldn't let them take her. Not again.