Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there existed a kingdom called Vivid, located in a peaceful land bordering a beautiful forest.
Vivid was just one of several kingdoms that existed in the vast magical land, home to people who had magic of many types. The most well known magic users were the royal families, and Vivid's royal family was one of them.
The Shiraishi family ruled Vivid with kindness and compassion, and were blessed with magical powers over plants and flowers, the symbol of the royal family being the ruby red roses that decorated the walls and gardens of Vivid Palace.
Our story begins with Princess An Shiraishi, the young princess of Vivid and the daughter of King Ken Shiraishi. She was popular throughout the kingdom for her lively and kind personality.
Growing up, she was trained by her father's family friends: Her Uncle Taiga and her Aunt Nagi, who taught her all she needed to know about her magical powers.
An was especially close to Nagi, but such happy days were not meant to last.
One fateful day, the little princess was working in the kitchen with her maids to make a surprise for her aunt and uncle.
“Aaaaand... Done! Perfect!” An added the final touch to the small cake that her and the maids had baked.
“Excellent job, Your Highness!” The first maid cheered, helping her off the stool the 10 year old princess was standing on.
Another maid applauded her. “It looks beautiful! The Lord and Lady are sure to love it.”
“Thanks, everyone! I couldn't have done it without you!” Princess An thanked as a third maid handed the cake to her.
The maid made sure the princess had a good grip on the plate before letting go. “Now, be careful, Your Highness! Go ahead and deliver it!”
The princess carefully carried the plate to the balcony where her aunt was talking with her uncle and father.
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“What? Are you sure?” Nagi asked the king.
King Ken nodded. “I'm sure. The guards that brought back the report also brought back several Blood Moon survivors.”
“Hardly anyone escapes Blood Moon in one piece. Those kids must be very lucky. They seem pretty traumatized, however.” Taiga added.
Blood Moon was an evil organization with mysterious intentions, commonly known for kidnapping young civilians and selling them as slaves, so most of the kingdoms were wary of them. They were named after the Blood Moon Phenomenon, a mysterious occurrence that happened in that world once a month that filled the land with undead monsters for a whole night.
Ken sighed. “So many young ones from other kingdoms gone... Thankfully, they have yet to reach Vivid thanks to our efforts. We can at least shelter those that do manage to escape.”
“I agree...” Nagi nodded.
“Aunt Nagi! Uncle Taiga!”
The three adults turned around to see the young princess running up to them with the cake in her hands.
“If it isn't An. What do you have there?” Taiga asked.
She held up the cake towards them. “The maids and I made this for you guys!”
“You helped make this?” Nagi asked, taking it. “It looks lovely!”
Ken smiled. “That's very nice of you, An.”
“You're... Not mad at me for being in the kitchen?” An asked. “I'm a princess and all, so...”
Taiga shook his head. “You know your father better than that, Young Lady. Vivid is a kingdom of freedom, and you've always been a free girl.”
“And even if I did forbid you, you'd do it anyway knowing you.” Ken chuckled.
An giggled. “Hehehe! You got me! So what were you guys talking about, Dad?”
“That's grown up stuff, An. Why don't we go play a game instead?” Nagi suggested, taking the cake and setting it aside.
An nodded. “Yeah! Let's play hide and seek!” With that, she pulled Nagi along into the castle.
Taiga rolled his eyes. “They make quite the pair.”
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After going further away from Taiga and Ken, the girls did a game of rock-paper-scissors to decide who should seek first.
“Bam! You're it, Aunt Nagi!” An announced, winning.
Nagi giggled and turned around to start counting. “Okay, you have thirty seconds! One, two, three...”
An ran off through the area looking for a place to hide. She decided to hide in the kitchen inside a closet.
“Twenty-eight... Twenty-nine... Thirty! Alright, ready or not, here I come!” Nagi turned around and started patrolling the area, looking for the princess. “I'm gonna getcha...!”
She had been searching the palace for ten minutes before the sound of panic was heard among the servants.
“What's going on?!” Nagi asked a servant that was fleeing. “Are you okay?!”
“Yeah... I'm okay... But it's just...!”
“Nagi!”
Ken ran up to her with several royal knights with him.
Nagi was worried. “What's going on?!”
Her answer came in the form of strange people rushing towards them wearing white, black, and red clothes holding weapons and other dangerous tools, setting fire to the palace.
“Blood Moon?!” Nagi realized who they were.
As Ken's knights rushed to meet the Blood Moon people in battle, Ken turned to Nagi. “They must have snuck into the kingdom somehow... Where's An?!”
“I'll find her as fast as I can!” Nagi promised. “You get out of here!” Then she bolted out of the room.
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An heard the sound of loud footsteps outside the kitchen that prompted her to come out of the closet she was in.
“What's going on?” She wondered, looking around before smelling smoke. “Eh?”
Suddenly, one of the doors to the kitchen burst open, revealing at least three intimidating men in unusual clothing. “There she is! The princess!”
An gasped. “Who are you?!”
“Seize her!” Another man ordered, prompting the third one to grab An's arm.
“Ow! Let me go!” An yelled, tugging back as hard as she could, but she was still getting dragged across the floor.
“You're coming with us, Missy!” The first man told her, approaching with a pair of handcuffs.
Horrified, An screamed at him. “Let go! Leave me alone!!”
Suddenly, several thorned vines burst from the floor and jabbed the men, separating them from An. Nagi came out of the flames outside the door and stood between Blood Moon and An.
“Leave her alone!” Ordered Nagi.
The first man pulled out a gun. “You're not the boss of us, Madame. Hand her over, boss's orders.”
“Absolutely not.” Nagi insisted, picking up An in her arms and fleeing.
“Stop her!”
Gunshots were heard as the men gave chase as Nagi made her way through the burning palace like a pro, carrying An in her arms.
“Aunt Nagi, will we make it?!” An asked.
Nagi assured her, “Don't worry, we'll make it! We'll take the back route!”
More and more people from Blood Moon were raiding the palace, so Nagi acted quickly despite the sound of gunshots ringing in the air. After one particular shot, however, she fell down and dropped her niece.
“Ugh...!” Nagi struggled to get up.
An turned to her. “Aunt Nagi! Get up!”
“Urgh...” Nagi managed to get herself back up on her feet just as Blood Moon was catching up. She held An's hand as the two ran out of the flames and out the back door.
As soon as they were outside, they met with Ken and Taiga, who were outside with the knights.
“An!” Ken called.
An ran up to him and hugged him. “Father!”
“Are you alright?” Ken asked.
An nodded. “Yeah, Aunt Nagi helped save me!”
“Augh...” Nagi clutched her chest and fell to the ground on her knees.
Taiga rushed to help her, but she lost all her strength and fell completely to the ground. “Nagi!”
“Aunt Nagi!” An called.
Nagi removed her hands from her chest, revealing a wound from a gunshot in her chest.
“She's wounded!” Ken realized.
Taiga tried to help Nagi to her feet, before another gunshot was heard, making her gasp and fall back down.
An jumped out of her father's arms and ran up to Nagi. “Aunt Nagi!”
The gunshot had hit Nagi's back.
“An...!” Nagi was losing breath. “An... Run...!”
“No! I'm not gonna leave you!” An shook her head.
Taiga knew those gunshots were fatal. “An, we have to go, they're coming back.”
“But Aunt Nagi!” An panicked. “We can't leave her here!”
“An... Listen to me...” Nagi managed. “You have to leave... You're too precious... To lose... I promise... I'll always be with you...”
“But Aunt Nagi!” The idea that she might not see her again made An cry. “I...! I...!”
Nagi managed a smile. “You can do this... Little An... You're meant for great things... That I am sure of... Now go!”
Ken quickly picked up An and started fleeing with Taiga and the knights.
“N-no! Wait! Aunt Nagi! NAGI!!!” An screamed as they had to leave Nagi behind to her death.
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Many lives were lost that day, but Blood Moon was eventually repelled from the kingdom, allowing them to rebuild the palace. The wounds in the princess's heart, however, were not that easily healed.