Work Text:
Caeldori landed her pegasus, letting Shiro slide off. He gave her a thumbs up before walking to join the others. With that being the last person to be flown over, she hopped off of her pegasus. She took her pegasus by the reins and guided the both of them to the crowd of people.
She slowed to a stop at the sight.
Sure enough, as Kiragi said, there were houses here.
Houses that were clustered together like a village once prospered here. Old, weathered and fraying clothing hung out on long abandoned clotheslines. Doors were left open, squeaking in the scarce wind.
In the distance was a villa on a hill. It was lined with gold and blue, sitting near a lake that spilled down the hillside in two layers. The double layered lake shone in the light. The edge of where the land had splintered away from whatever tragedy had happened made the lake pour water into the abyss— yet, water still remained.
Shiro hummed, toying with a bell on his armor. "... Maybe there'll be stuff left behind here?"
Caeldori hissed between her teeth. "Shiro!"
Shiro laughed, shrugging. "What? Shigure said there's likely nobody left."
Kana hopped into their conversation, smiling wide. "Plussss, if there is somebody, we can take them with us!"
Shigure sighed. "... very unlikely, but it is a nice thought." His eyes were still facing forward, up at the villa on the hill. "How about we all split up? We can check out more places in the village better."
Kiragi grinned, taking Midori by the arm. "Oki-doki! C'mon, Midori, let's go!"
"O-OK!"
Caeldori watched as people grouped up and spread out. Kana headed after the quickly distant Kiragi and Midori. Sophie, Soleil, and Ophelia went in another direction. Nina, Asugi, and a few of their group went in another.
Slowly, the group dispersed.
Hisame and Forrest glanced over to her, the last two remaining other than her.
Shigure had headed for the villa. Caeldori grit her teeth.
Forrest hummed. "... Caeldori, should we go with you?"
"No." Caeldori sighed. "You need to check these houses for survivors if such a possibility exists. Maybe we can find more mending supplies."
"Are you sure?" Hisame brushed his hands over the hilt of his sword. "It's becoming clear that Shigure is hiding something, wouldn't we help in that manner?"
Caeldori's stomach churned. She tried not to visibly huff. She appreciated her new friends. That Shigure had new friends as well was also a positive thing. No matter what, though, that someone else pointed it out as something wrong meant that Caeldori didn't notice... or that she did, and that she simply didn't try hard enough to get him to talk.
"I can handle it." Caeldori said, aware of the curtness of her voice. "I'm his sister. Someone needs to take my pegasus over to Hinoka, too."
"That is true..."
Caeldori offered up the reins of her pegasus. Forrest walked forward and took it, then nodded to Caeldori. Despite the guilt settling into her heart, she nodded back. Forrest walked back towards where the other pegasi had settled. Hisame's eyes rested on Caeldori for a few moments more before turning back and running to catch up with Forrest.
Caeldori made her way to the villa. There was chatter as she walked through the streets, and for a moment, it was almost like a real village. Someone from the thief group waved a piece of fabric out a broken window, hollering. Rhajat cradled something in her hands, a sick grin on her face.
Selena, Laslow, and Odin were huddled up together and whispering in the shadow of the last house on the street. Selena's eyes darted over to Caeldori as she walked past, and the three of them stopped talking.
Caeldori kept walking, leaving them behind.
Up the hill, up the stairs that wound around, and then into the grand villa itself.
The entry hall was recently disturbed. There was a thin layer of dust on the wall, some disturbed from fingerprints of a glove. She followed the trail, eyes glancing over the walls and their crumbling state.
She turned a corner, and she saw her brother. He was staring at something on the wall, transfixed.
It was out of her sight.
Despite the sharp noise of her boots hitting the ground as she grew closer, it seemed Shigure did not hear. His eyes were still trained on the wall, absorbed completely. She trailed to a stop by his side, head turning to the wall.
There was a painting there, edges slightly worn by the sun streaming in through the window. It was a portrait.
Two women were standing next to each other. One had black hair, tied up in a ponytail. The other had blue hair, long and unbound. Kneeling in front of the two of them, with his hands on the shoulders of a small girl, was a man with swept back gray hair. The small girl with hands on her shoulders had blue hair as well, obviously shying away from the painter. The white headdress on her head was large enough to swallow up most of her face, except for some of her eyes, which were a striking gold.
... the man had gold painted around his forehead, though some of it blended with gray in a manner that suggested that it was perhaps not meant to be painted gold in the first place. Caeldori followed the golden lines anyway.
It looked as if the gold was supposed to form into a crown, but was blended away into the gray of the man's hair.
Shigure spoke, making Caeldori jump. "He would've owned this town, back when it was alive."
Caeldori grit her teeth. "That's what you're commenting on?"
Shigure blinked, glancing over to her like he didn't seem to have noticed her at all. "Sister?"
Caeldori pointed a hand to the small girl, with the too-big headdress and the golden eyes and the same blue hair Caeldori also shared. "Is that not our mother? Is that man not the former king you spoke of?"
Shigure at least had the decency to look away. He flushed, red as his hair, and he bit his lip. "... That's not—"
"Don't lie to me." Caeldori sighed, glancing away from her brother. The black-haired woman in the portrait seemed so familiar, but no matter what Caeldori did, she did not have perfect memory. She would ask the others to come here later to see if they had any ideas. "Shigure, this is the royal family, yes?"
"... it is."
"... that's our mother, isn't it?" Caeldori did not look in her brother's direction. "She said she used to be shy. And she was how you knew about Anankos. About how Valla fell." Her hands balled at her sides. "We're part of the royal lineage."
Shigure did not respond. She imagined he nodded. Even with the lack of a response, she tried not to feel the tears at the corners of her eyes. She continued to scan the portrait. The woman with blue hair, likely their grandmother, had a pendant around her neck, very similar to the one Shigure wore.
Gods. "Why?"
"... Sister?"
"Why can't you use my name?" Caeldori snapped as she turned around, watching as Shigure's hand pulled away from her shoulders. She only let that hurt for a moment. "Why— Why did Mother tell you and not me? Why did she tell you about this place and not me? Why did- why did she give you that pendant and not me?"
Shigure squeezed his eyes shut. "She didn't wish to burden you."
"Well, I'm burdened anyway!" Caeldori took a deep breath. Shigure let his eyes slip open again, tense. Caeldori breathed out. "... We're here now. Can't you tell me?"
Shigure's lips pressed into a hard line. "... No. She wanted you to live."
What?! "And she wanted you to die? That's not—" Caeldori shook her head. "I'm telling the others to come here."
She turned and started to leave.
"Caeldori."
Caeldori stopped, turning back to Shigure.
Shigure's eyes held fear. "We... I don't want to worry you. There's... a great burden in knowing we're the royals here. Vallite royalty have a unique ability." His hands curled around his pendant, shaking. "It can draw out all the power in this pendant. And... it's..." He closed his eyes again. "... it can be dangerous if you don't know how to wield it. If you sing without focus. That's why she didn't wish to tell you."
Caeldori stared at Shigure, watching him keep his eyes shut.
... He still wasn't telling her something. But it was more than she'd been told in years.
"... I'm still going to grab the others." Caeldori saw Shigure's shoulders tense. "I won't tell them." Her smile lightened. "The lake is rather beautiful, isn't it?"
Shigure smiled, softer than she had seen in a while. "It is." His hands gripped onto the pendant. "Alright. I'll stay here. I'm sure we'll need the rest."