Bangs could be heard nearby, the bangs were shallow, yet they were quiet and unsteady. The banging would continue as sounds would then start to rush all around her… the sounds of swords clanging, the sounds of the fire burning the place, and the sounds of the other elements making themselves known within the vicinity of the girl's delicate earlobes.Slowly but surely, the sounds awoke the girl, her eyes slowly fluttered open. She wasn’t sure why there were noises that were going wild outside the place. Rubbing her eyes and giving a small stretch by reaching as high as she possibly could with her arms, she let her feet hit the cold wooden flooring before the door opened with a large thud. The bang from the door opening too wide too quickly caused the girl to squeak slightly.
“Siren!” The voice spoke out.
The blonde glanced over at the other female and bit her lower lip in confusion, she wondered what required this kind of attention. The noises that were outside required more of her attention, yet this woman wanted to take more care towards the noise.
“What’s the matter?!” The sleepy female asked as she stood up in shock and annoyance. “The attention outside requires me more!”
“I know! That’s why you’re needed!” They commanded. “Get yourself ready, and if you dare to eat breakfast, I will be so pissed with you.”
“Yes…”
The moment the other woman walked out. The blonde female had to take a look at herself in the mirror before noticing something strange was going on. “But… I’m Minako… Fujiwara Minako at that… Not this… “Siren” person. How confusing…”Before the female went to sleep in the ancient forest, she was on a tree like normal. When she woke up, it was clear she was in a different place. It reminded her of that dream she had before, where the swords were talking to her, then she was transported to what seemed to be a party of sorts. Right now, however, it seems she has been transported to what seemed to be a war. What was it lately about her and her dreams taking her to different places?? She didn’t deserve this, she wanted to focus on killing her mother and getting rid of their miserable life and let them enter hell itself. She had no time for this type of issue.
Sighing softly, the only way for Minako to continue with this, is if she played everything out that fate laid down for her. She was to walk the path of whoever she was or whatever she is in order for this to work out. Getting herself ready, she looked over a chair and got herself all dressed up. She really did look like a warrior of sorts, with her armour giving suitable protection, yet given her enough flexibility to deal with as well in the face of combat.
Finishing herself off, the female’s new door opened up once again, and it revealed a young woman in a beautiful red dress, her amber-like eyes looked rather fitting with the dress, and she ran up to hug the different looking Minako with a smile on her face.“Siren, Siren!” She exclaimed while hugging. “I asked your captain if you could guide me to some “talks” again, and she agreed! I can’t wait to travel with you!”
“But… the war…”
“Don’t worry! You are assigned as my protector anyway, so your captain can’t argue!”
Minako, now called “Siren” decided to follow whatever the young lady was saying, and even playing with her blonde hair without any thought before she took the young woman's hand and walked away with her.
“I must ask, why the hell is everyone fighting outside??” Minako had to ask the blonde girl as they walked together down the corridor. They were both walking over to what seemed to be a back entrance of sorts, it was not much safer than if they both went out the front door as that is where all the fighting was occurring.
“Even I don’t know why, it’s why I need to see him again, and it’s why I need you to accompany me in case anyone notices us. You’re a fantastic warrior, and I am glad that I have been able to share everything with you!” The girl said as she finally leads them outside. “You remember where we’re going today? Or do I have to tell you again??” She chuckled to herself as she tilted her head before turning around to face the clueless warrior.
“Yeah, can you just guide me, please?? I’m not with it this morning, unfortunately.” She admitted. She really wasn’t, she felt sickish and she was also just plain confused by what she has been going through as of late, and by late, she meant this morning.
With the girl nodding, she turned herself back around and directed her to what appeared to be a shrine sometime later. At the shrine, there appeared to be a male waiting for the female, and that was when she let go of her hand and rushed to the male to hug him and kiss him. Minako didn’t know what was going on until she walked towards them both… did she just escort the girl to a secret meeting?? That was… very sneaky, but she liked it, mainly because she was sneaky herself, but she liked it nonetheless.
“I am so glad to see you!” The female smiled as she then rubbed her nose against the males, which he did so in return. “I am so confused, everyone is fighting each other, why is this happening??” She would then query the male. Sighing softly, he shook his head, it seemed he didn’t understand either…
“I think father just had a fit. What matters though, is that you are unharmed. Wait, are you unharmed??” He would ask as he raised his hands and picked up the girl bridal style and span her around. “Or are you going to get attacked from my tickles!!!??” He quickly plopped her down and started a tickle fest, to which she reacted by flailing and trying to get his hands off her. Minako, who was watching everything, couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. It was like, relationship goals.
“I have a proposition…” the male said softly to her, that was when he stopped tickling her and smiled softly, brushing off a few strands of her blonde hair off her face. “With everything getting worse, we may not be able to see each other so often. I propose we have swords made for us, 2 that unify us and can remind us that we are there for each other, even when we aren’t next to each other. What do you say??”
“Woah Woah Woah!” Minako stepped in as she waved her arms in front of her face. “As much as I love the romance I am seeing here, giving you both weapons could seriously be dangerous, do you both know how much that would implicate you both if they found out?”
“Siren… please…” The girl sighed softly before standing up and scratched the back of her head, “While I understand this may be risky, this is the only way I can probably be with him in times of trouble. As much as you don’t like it, Siren, he is right, and you know that.”
Minako couldn’t help but shake her head like a bull and then looked away, of course, she also had to cross her arms like she was an old snobby lady who couldn’t handle her son's decisions or something.
“Siren, please, don’t worry. Everything will be fine. I promise.” She admitted as she then decided to toddle over to the warrior. She even patted her head, which resulted in Minako shaking her head more in defiance. “Oh Siren, you are so adorable sometimes. You act like you have such high standards, yet expose your weakness and you act really cute.” She giggled.
“Holy shi-”
“No swearing!”
“Fine…” Minako replied as she rolled her eyes. “But only because you asked me to… Anyways, blacksmiths. We should go to one, as always, I will protect you.” She spoke as she kneeled towards the girl. Meanwhile, in her head, she was wondering how the hell she was managing to pull this all off, simply because she doesn’t know how this “Siren” person talks, she doesn’t even know the feelings of them, their motives, past, nothing. It’s quite difficult for her to connect to who she was right now, which was a shame.
With a few nods of approval, Minako was told to rise, to which she did, and the 3 of them travelled over to the blacksmiths in the nearby town. Of course, Minako had to guide them through the most dangerous route, in case they were seen by any family members that were in the town, but also because it was the road less travelled. Of course, they met up with what appeared to be a bandit or 2, but Minako was able to dispatch them swiftly and with no issues.
“Wow! No wonder I can sneak you out of your duties to accompany me, Siren! You are so amazing at fighting!” The blonde said happily.
“Umm, no. Not true.” Minako replied as sheathed her sword, behind them was a small pile of bandits who met with her blade.
“Well, you have kept us safe so far, now let us go to that blacksmith.” The male declared. While Minako wished she could object since she really needed some rest by now. She trudged on with a begrudging look on her face. She really didn’t want to continue, but if she wanted to stay on the good side of her ladyship, then there's really no choice in the matter, she guessed she just had to continue on the little journey.
It took some time before the trio were able to finally make it to the blacksmiths, but there was one little problem… Minako was forced to wait outside, to make the swords very special, Minako was to wait outside while the other 2 stayed inside while the weapons were getting made. Apparently, the swords needed to only be seen by the both of them and the blacksmith itself, as the bond of the lover's souls could only be mixed in by then. While this frustrated Minako to an extent, she also thought it made sense. She knew if she had a lover that wanted weapons with meaning, she would probably do the same thing.Crossing her arms and leaning back, Minako waited patiently for the both of them to come out so she could guide them back to that shrine so they could say their goodbyes. Minako wasn’t sure what to think of her new life because there were some good and bad things about it… It was only when the both of them came out of the shrine when she started to hear weird voices in her head. They were speaking to her, and how she needed to wake up to realise her potential. Minako wasn’t sure what she would think about this, her mind only returned to silence the moment her attention was grabbed by the couple.
“They’re done!” The female announced.
“Hell yeah, let's go back.” Minako suggested.
“I’m actually going to go back, need time to hide this from family, yet keep this close by at the same time. I’ll catch you both later.” The male spoke, trudging closer to his lass and then kissing her on the cheek before walking backwards and waving Minako off. Waving back in return, the female then wrapped her arms around the warrior in happiness.
“Thank you, Siren! Want to see it?” She questioned Minako, to which Minako nodded slowly. That was when the woman unsheathed what appeared to be the most shocking sword that Minako has ever seen… it was one of the butterfly swords that Minako usually fought with when it was needed. This was too much of a coincidence, it was as if she was being told something, and if she was going, to be honest, she wasn’t too sure what to make of it. There was supposed to be 2, which must’ve meant that the dude had the second one.
“It’s… pretty.” Minako complimented the sword. “May I touch it, I want to test it.”
“No! Don’t be silly. It shares a part of my love, only he's allowed to touch it.”
“Of course…”
With the whole mamba over and done with, the both of them made their trek back to their place, it seemed that the rage and the clash of swords stopped, although it still felt rather tense. It was clear that something wasn’t right… Minako wasn’t sure how correct she was in the assumption until she opened up the door to see blood everywhere.
“Stand behind me!” Minako commanded, bringing her sword back. “Stay close to me, we don’t know what the hell happened here and I would prefer to not see your neck separated from your body or something.” With the young lady nodding, she stuck herself behind Minako and the two went around the house in the safety of Minako’s blade, who would guide the two on their way.
“Hey… Siren??”
“Quiet…”
If Minako was going, to be honest, she was scared… She was scared that she wouldn’t be able to save the girl's life, that’s if there was danger in the house anyway, which turns out there wasn’t so much of an issue after all. Even when the screams were heard, Minako kept her guard up until she entered the master bedroom, revealing that the girl's parents seemed at have a domestic argument. She just wanted to drop the girl off, she didn’t want to see this kind of stuff.
“Is everything already, sir, milady??” The warrior asked as she looked at the both of them. “Do I need to get medical attention?”
The two, who didn’t seem too pleased by Minako’s presence, shook their heads in anger, to which Minako replied by bowing her head down low and leaving them both to punch the living daylights out of each other if needed.
“Well, they’re at it again. Want to stay at mine for the night?”
-------------------
The girls decided to stay over at Minako’s room for the night and have a little party to themselves since Minako will be off duty. She didn’t expect that this lady could get her so much leeway, but she guessed that is what would happen. They spoke about many things, which gave Minako a bit more insight into who she was. The girl seemed to have called her Ai, which meant love. She was also one of the higher classes of warriors, and the girl's childhood friend, which explained a few things, actually.
“Ai… If anything happens to me and my love, please, use the swords. You’re the only one I trust if both of us go…”
“You make that sound like a clue, milady.”
“Oh, no no! You are allowed to call me Akane when we’re spending our time like this, why must you insist to call me that?! Anyway, I am sure nothing will happen, but if anything does happen, I will entrust our swords onto you, you are such a great warrior, and our bond together is absolute, I feel much safer when I am either in his arms, or when I am behind you with your divine protection!”
It was at that moment when the sword that was right next to Akane began to glow some sort of divine light, Minako didn’t understand why, but Akane merely giggled. “It seems it recognises you as my friend…” She spoke softly before picking up the sword and held it out in front of Minako. “Here, place your hand on top of mine, it’ll be a best friend bond and a promise to stay together no matter what!”
Hesitant, but concerned by the fact that she would probably get scolded if she didn’t complete her request, she placed her hand on top of Akane’s. To her shock, the sword began to glow even brighter than before, the female didn’t understand what was going on, she already felt connected to that sword. The major problem was that it was someone else's sword…
“The glow is so pretty!” Akane glimpsed at its beauty as butterflies started to shoot out the sword, the butterflies glittered and shone in what appeared to be an emerald green colour. They started to fulfil the room, the girls couldn’t help but stand up and look at the butterflies. It was indeed very beautiful. “It’s like they want to greet us! It reminds me of when you came to our door at 13 wanting to greet us and to fulfil your part of the generation. Now, look at you…”
Chuckling softly, the female merely scratched the back of her head, watching as the butterflies fade away slowly. She would prefer if she wasn’t reminded of stuff that she couldn’t remember. At the same time though, she seemed to be doing pretty well personality wise, since nobody commented on it, nor did they ask if she was okay and such.
“We should go to sleep now, Akane.” Minako suggested, before picking the girl up and placing her in her own bed.
“But… this is your bed.”
“The floor exists for a reason.”
“Fineee…”
With this, the two went to sleep peacefully, maybe Minako would return to her own world now that it all seemed to be sorted with for the time being. Unfortunately, she woke up in the same place… On the floor, in her room. This was mad, she should be back in her own world! Realising her panic, Akane, who was already awake, walked over to her knight and hugged her.
“Good morning! Is everything okay Ai?” She queried towards the young warrior, who shook her head before shrugging.
“I… just had a bad dream.” She sighed softly. “I am assuming you will want to see him again, Akane??”
“Of course! Just remember, I cannot call you Ai once we are out this room.”
---------
The day began like yesterday, except the fact that Akane brought out her butterfly sword. Minako also helped disguise it well by forcing Akane to stand right behind her until they both went out the back entrance. Going along the same path and walking towards the same shrine, he was there waiting again. The two seemed to be really happy to see each other again, and they even shared a kiss like they did so yesterday.
“Can’t thank you enough, Siren.” The male waved and nodded at her. “I must ask, why did you become a warrior…??”
“I became one because it runs in the family I guess, my father was a great man, and I just wanted to follow in his footsteps.” With the little info she knew, she managed to put it to good use.
“Your father must have had high honour then, his blood definitely runs in you, cannot thank you enough for supporting us, which can be seen as treason.”
That was when Minako began to sense that someone else was near them, in fact, her gut was scaring her with this feeling. She was sure that they were discovered, and she had to hide them quick. It was only when she turned behind her to see Akane’s older sister watching the trio.
Shit, guys! Hide!” The female commanded as she shoved them into the shrine. It was too late however, she was sure that her sister already knew their intentions of love, now Minako knew that the three of them were going to be in serious trouble. “We are so screwed… we are so, so screwed.”
“What happened, Siren?!”
“Your older sister was here, Akane…”
The three of them fell silent. How were they followed?? Minako made sure to be careful with their journey, in fact, she even made sure that she and Akane were the only ones to make it through the back entrance. This was going to be worrying…
“Spend as much time as you can together because I believe both of you will be in trouble when we get back, could even start more of a war… I may also get executed for treason…” Minako wasn’t actually too sure if she was to get executed or not, but she was pretty sure that she will.
Minako started to worry more by the second and by the time they all finished the meeting, the two got back to their place and just like Minako predicted, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Akane was immediately sent to her room and was told her father would deal with her.
Minako tried to rush by her side to at least be the warrior that she was supposed to be, but instead, her captain dragged her away and threw her into the dungeons, where her back was furiously exposed. Minako wanted to scream the moment she was forced against the wall, having to meet with a cat o nine tails whip on her back. With each whip, more blood trailed, it didn’t take long for her back and the back of her legs to be completely covered in the crimson red colour. She was in severe pain and her cries could be heard throughout the whole of the household. The blonde warrior just wanted to cry, she didn’t deserve this, she just wanted to go home… After the severe whipping session, Minako was thrown onto the floor. She didn’t dare move, the one who whipped her was still around, and it was only when they finally walked out the room, she officially bawled her eyes out.
---------
A few mornings after the incident, she heard the door of the dungeon cell open. It was revealed to be Akane, who just looked at her warrior in shock and bolted to her, hugging her with fear in those emerald green eyes of hers. Looking around, the female began to speak inaudible words. Minako couldn’t understand what she was saying, she felt so weak, and she just wanted to say goodbye to the world.
“Ai! Ai!”
Minako’s eyes began to close.
“Ai! Ooh, that's it!” Akane gently placed Minako down before grabbing a nearby bucket and throwing its contents onto the warrior. Despite smelling of faeces, it most certainly woke up the young woman.
“Holy shit! Where am I?! What happened?! Why am I in so much pain?!”
As soon as Akane was about to answer, more footsteps could be heard. The footsteps got louder and more irritating until the very same feet walked right up to the entrance of the cell. Akane turned around and looked at the male very angrily, for it was her father, and he seemed to be acting like she never existed.
“Ashikaga Ai. Heed my words. You are free to go, but you are relieved of your duties, be lucky we are not executing you. You are to leave this home by dawn tomorrow, and you will officially be exiled. If we ever see you again, we will execute you… Do you understand.”
“I… I understand…”
“NO! FATHER! YOU CANNOT DO THIS!” Akane screamed as she charged towards her father, but instead he picked her up with little to no strength at all and threw her across the floor.
Standing up weakly, Minako bit her lower lip as she exited the cell and walked all the way to her room in shame as everyone stared at her back, shocked at the damage it has been given. Running behind Minako was Akane, who wanted to protect her as much as possible from the gazing eyes.
“Ai!” She cried out. “Please don’t leave me…”
“I need to, do you want me to die??” She queried as she walked into her room, with Akane following the ex-warrior to her room.
“N-no…”
“Then please, don’t bother me anymore. I promise that wherever I will go, I will be safe. Maybe I will become another warrior, one that will be stronger than before. I will promise to get you back… I promise… I will take you out of this place and we can travel the world! We could see all the weird and wonderful!”
“I have already decided on a different plan… Ai… I will be leaving with my lover, please, at dawn, before you leave, visit us at the shrine, we will say our goodbyes there. For now, I will get some people to deal with your wounds… I can’t guarantee they will come because I am disowned, but yeah…”
Minako sighed softly as Akane left the room, she wasn’t sure how this will turn out now.
---------
At dawn, Minako has done what the master of the house ordered her to do, she walked out the back entrance of the house and even waved goodbye to the building as she walked off, for she had to go to the shrine now. It was probably for the best that she said goodbye to them and let them be on their way, they were very happy together after all, and it was the least Minako could do for them. She was officially exiled, she was to never come back to the place that was her home, or her temporary home anyway. Just how long was it till she was going to be able to return home??
Sighing softly, the female made her way to the shrine, just like Akane wanted her to. For some strange reason, she was seeing the same glow that she saw in the distance that she spotted when Akane forced her to touch her hand that was on top of her sword. It got really suspicious the moment she got closer, the same type of butterflies that glittered like emeralds were upon her. It was only when she entered the shrine itself, she found out the reason why.
In front of her, the female spotted two dead bodies, they weren’t just any dead bodies either, they were the bodies belonging to Akane and her lover. Minako wanted to cry once again, cry like she did at the dungeons, she already shipped them so hard and to see their lives just to go to waste like that.
“Don’t cry… Ai…”
Hearing the words, the female had to look at her frantically, but she didn’t see anyone.
“Take the swords… keep them safe. As I said a few nights ago, they see you as our friend…”
The voice slowly faded and Minako bit her lower lip, she wasn’t sure if she was ready for whatever challenges have to face her. Walking towards the dead bodies slowly, she picked up the glowing swords, which reacted to her touch immediately. The butterflies were now going wild, they all took their chance at surrounding Minako as the swords shone brightly with her touch. She felt connected to them, feeling much more attuned to the weaponry because they are the last piece of Akane and her lover. They felt special to her, and she wanted to keep them forever with her, to be a part of her and to make sure that she will be like a living shield; be a protector of people.
Everything seemed to be going tense however, Minako tried her best to keep her cool, but she also didn’t expect someone to watch her and for them to knock her out either. She simply saw the colour black until she woke up once again. She was back in the dungeons once more, and she was confused as to why. She was leaving, so she shouldn’t be shouldn’t be getting ready for execution… But she blacked out once again, followed by multiple visions of her severed head being shown around publically. A lot of people were laughing at the head, while some were crying with worry. This forced Minako to wake up from this strange thing and it looked like she finally returned to her own world once more. The sweat was dominating, and Minako looked like that she woke up from a nightmare.
Looking around, it appeared that Minako was asleep in the ancient forest, the birds and the other animals were going around peacefully, it’s as if they didn’t even notice Minako was struggling. While she was looking around though, she noticed something strange… her swords, Titania & Oberon, were going wild. They were floating in the air right in front of her, and like in her dreams, butterflies were surrounding it, doing their own little thing.
“Take the sword, Ai, and let it become one with you and your strength. After all… The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he is on.”Hearing the words, Minako felt this feeling of courage rush inside her, it was as if she was that warrior once again. The one that she became in the dreams… no… she understood now… She was Ai, she was that warrior that she became in her dreams. She was given a second chance… and she doesn’t know why she was, but she wasn’t going to be taking chances anymore!
With her hands, she grabbed each of the weapons that were presented to her. They began to glow and go absolutely wild. They were glittering and the number of butterflies that appeared around her seemed to have doubled.
“Ai!” A female voice called out. Minako started to get visions of the girl she once protected. “Ai! You are my best friend! I thank you for everything. Please take good care of them and become who you really are!”
That was when Minako started to feel sudden pain from her back, she was reliving all the pain she got from when she was being whipped. Her screams and the pain was making her feel like trash. It was only when she keeled over in pain, that the pain went away slowly. Something seemed to be sopping out of her back, and while it didn’t cause as much pain as all the whip pains that she received again, it was increasingly uncomfortable.“Ai! You are the true Siren, the one that breathes with your sword! Go… Be who you are!”
The voice faded away once more, and as Minako stood up, she felt something was attached to her back. Glowing green butterflies surrounded her, and as she held Titania & Oberon, she was sure that she was chosen to be like this for a reason, as a thank you from Akane…
“Ai… my butterfly… my warrior… my best friend…”
Yup, that was definitely the case for sure, and as she tilted her head up to the moon, she stretched out her butterfly wings, that were flapping about with the freedom they had. It doesn’t look like she can fly with them, but as soon as the glowing butterflies vanished, so did her wings, and she dropped to the floor weakly.
“I’m… so sleepy…” She mumbled. “I was her warrior… But I am now my own warrior, and I will fulfil being the people's warrior...”
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