The Gift of Revenge - tricia-bunny/genetics-simplified GitHub Wiki

Canfic by tricia-bunny

Prologue

The serene light of dawn fell over the horizon, plains brightening with light and glory. From a window in the tallest spire of a castle, the general of the Kydian force looked out into the distance, her eyes clouding wistfully. Why was she here, now, in a deserted palace fighting for a brainless tyrant? When had it all gone wrong?
It had been a beautiful day, eighteen years earlier. Three children played in a small clearing, laughter filling the air. Was this the last time she had laughed like this, carefree and happy? The meandering years ahead were filled with tyranny and betrayal, and though many victories were won, there had never been a time where she had indeed been... happy.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Evda pointed at her sister, Köyden. "No, you're cheating!" she said, moving her game pieces into illegal positions. "Evda's right," the youngest sibling, Rengi, replied. "You are cheating."
A tear slipped down the general's face. Fishwar... That had been the name of the game they had played. Now, the name only brought sadness, and when Rengi died, it left a hollow space in her heart, and she was trapped, unable to escape the constant fear in the place that used to be her home.
Two years later. Finally, the space in her heart was filled by a friend who cared. The sleepless nights, all the times she gazed up at the ever-present moon, Iodine was there, loving, supporting, and there was peace.
Sometimes, though, as she lay awake beneath the night sky, she yearned for a purpose, and one day that purpose came. But when she accepted the new king's hand, she felt no happiness, and in her yearning for the purpose she'd always sought after, she left behind the only one who'd ever called her a friend.
And then there was the power, the helplessness, the feeling of being played in someone else's hands. Was this what she truly desired, or was it not?
She grew accustomed to the constant bloodlust of her new job. When she stood on the battlefield, it was no longer a simple fear of death that drove her forward, and as the days and years passed, she no longer felt sadness as her blades cut through lines of enemy legions... But as the monotonous days passed, she desired something more... freedom. She yearned once more for Iodine and Evda and all the people she'd thrown away to reach her current destination. She no longer concentrated on the battles she fought, never killing, only using the dull blade of her childhood.
Peach Springs. Just seeing the pristine serenity of the foreign land made her yearn for her true home. Iridium was already dead. So why could she not bear to return? She distracted herself with conquering all, but that was no more than a single bit of what she truly desired. Deep in her heart, she silently waited for a chance to do good.
There was Usagi-Ko, where back at Skyfish Coast, she'd made a deal with the young Sorceress to spare her and Akuma's lives. There was Ji'Xiang, who she trained in hopes that he could replace her. There were all the ones who she should have spared and did not. What was she, indeed? A tyrant who does not care for anyone in her path. A bloodthirsty general hungering for more.
It was when Ji'Xiang got sick that she decided to change her ways.

Chapter I

Twenty-four recruits were lined up in front of her. Some were clothed in glamorous outfits and majestic furs, others ratty with ragged clothes. She showed no discrimination between them, and soon all twenty-four were clean and clothed in comfortable wear. When she asked, not one could hold a sword, let alone fight in full armor. There was one person in particular who caught her eye because though his clothes were shredded and dirty, he did not accept the new clothes that they gave him, preferring his own. His name was Ji'Xiang, and in his eyes she saw the youthful gleam of chasing dreams and ambitious strides, reminding her of her youth, the happy times of finding freedom and playful endeavors...of Kydian love and unswerving loyalty......
A month passed, and with the battle of Peach Springs coming up. Ji'Xiang was now a proud warrior, owner of his very own motorcycle. She didn't know where the motorcycle came from, but she admired the sleek design nonetheless.
The battle raged on. She did not put her heart into the battle, disarming, destroying, but never killing. She watched Ji'Xiang on his motorcycle, crashing through lines of enemy troops, spattering them with invisible dust that made them unable to move. She watched with pride as he slid into the rendezvous spot, quicker than the others, leaving a path of only minimal destruction in his wake. Once more a yearning for home lit her gaze, for she wished she could turn back time, forget Dab, and forever be with Iodine in a dance of love and loyalty.
Preparing for the Frost battle was hard. The good recruits were already picked clean by last time, and there were only a few acceptable recruits, but it would be enough..?
After a small battle at Sea-Glass Cliffs, Ji'Xiang began training more and more sluggishly. His motorcycle lost its gleam, and he trained less and less. She thought back at the invasion on Skyfish Coast, there had been a young maiden who had made a deal, to fake her death to hide from the world. Usagi-Ko Chisai, she remembered, with her friend Akuma... the last of the ancient Chisai tribe, just as Evda and herself were the last of the Kydians...
Dab's approval of her leave was difficult to achieve, but the mountain, though steep, was fairly easy to climb. As she reached Usagi-Ko's cave, Usagi-Ko stepped out. "Köyden Kyda, right..? What do you need me for?"
"Ah, you got my name right," she said, bowing ever so slightly to the Sorceress of Skyfish Coast. "Umm. I have a... um, friend that has a weird sickness. He has been feeling sleepy even though he gets enough slee--"
"Is he a Chisai?" Usagi-Ko asked. "No," came the reply. "Why?"
Without replying, the Sorceress held out her hand, and Köyden took it. A flash of light, and they were in front of the castle. Usagi-Ko vanished, only to reappear a split second later. For some reason unknown, memories came rushing back, games of hide-and-seek with Evda and Rengi, how they used to pop out of view only to come back again. Days with Iodine, hiding out in the great unknown, crossing the border only to be chased back again. She did not remember what Usagi-Ko said, but she had nevertheless handed her the herb pouch that she had kept for who knows how long...
The 'Victory Tour', Dab had called it. It was a hellishly long and slow journey through the kingdoms, recruiting new trainees and killing off traitors and rebellions. How many families had they massacred? How many children had they orphaned? For her, this was none but a singular stroll down memory road, reliving all the pain and betrayal and hope and tears. Iodine... Rengi... Evda... All of them she had left to die. What was in her life that was worth all their lives..? Why must many fall to birth one renew?
Amira of Starfish Bluff, Reiko and Reiyu of Coral Shallows, Anna of Sandy Plains, Liuqin of Sea-Glass Cliffs, Eve of Mineral Valley, and Proxima of Skyfish Coast, all ones that did not understand that the so-called King is not a king at all, but a tyrant...

Chapter III

A windy night, dark sky against the clouds and stars. What was she? The Sorceress of Skyfish Coast? No, just a name the residents of the coast would call the mysterious sorceress that wandered the cliffs by Skyfish Shoal. Usagi-Ko? Only her mother and father had ever called her by that. Ko? Kitsune-Ko and Akuma were long-gone, no one else to come and love...
"It's futile." "Kitsune-Ko's spirit has already evaporated." "You left Akuma to die."
She has been waging a mental war of her own, and ever since Kitsune-Ko died, there have been memories tormenting her, memories of how she could have saved her and she didn't, of how she'd left her friend to die, of how she'd given up her homeland to a tyrant..?
Eleven years earlier...
She sat sadly in a tree, gaze always wandering to where Neko and Tanuki would teach little Kitsune-Ko about sorcery, giggles and occasional bursts of magic coming from their direction. Sometimes those blasts hit her, and she could see visions of who-knows-what. The one she saw most... She was standing in a dark rain, the bodies of Neko, Tanuki, Kitsune-Ko, and many, many others sprawled on the ground beside her. But her clothes were stained with blood and rain, a scheming smirk on her face...
From that day onward, she aspired to become a pioneer of white magic, a beacon of light and love in the sea of lost hopes. And if that had happened as she had hoped... then the world would be much better.
When she was twenty-one, the Kydian Legion invaded her homeland, and she'd had a chance to protect Akuma and destroy the entire legion. Yes, it was dark, dark magic, to kill more than two hundred people. But these people had murdered many, many others. Would it be evil to kill them all? And would it be evil if she didn't?
The philosopher Reverie Kyda once said, "If one lets atrocities continue without restraint, it is truly an atrocity of one's own."
The young sorceress once believed in this with all of her heart... But no more. If she was to be 'evil', so be it.
Perhaps the answer lies in Luminite.... the lost ores and crafting passion of the peoples of Ignia, the secret frozen within Frost's icy heart, the burning ambition of the last Kydians. Lumineux Ashe, Glace Étincelle, Agatha Kyda. All fervent users of the Luminite Ore, and all died young. Yet all of their graves were empty. Where had they gone? Where are they now?
Immortality...
To die, was that to become immortal in the silken gloom of the underworld..? To be but silhouettes and starlit steps against the celestial grass of the lost world of shadowy perfection, reduced to shreds of your old life and reborn in the astral glory of the stars. Is this true "peace"? Is this the useless guide to the universe, the one dull spark amidst a sea of brightness? Perhaps immortality is useless after all. There came a knock on the Sorceress's cave door, and even without her opening the magical lock, a teenage girl walked in, only slightly younger than herself.
"How... did you get in?" she asked, gaping.
The girl smiled. "My name is Artemis Kyda. Usagi-Ko, Sorceress of Skyfish Shoal-- I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."
She followed the young girl out of her cave, admiring the starlit sky as she had never before. The sparkling sea shimmered in response to the seashells of Skyfish Shoal, mesmerizing waves lost in her realm within. Carried by the sea breeze, leaves floated in the air, landing on the path to the seashore.
After a while, Artemis turned, facing Usagi-Ko.
"Hm, mighty Sorceress... Perhaps I shall go."
Calling upon her Kydian sorcery, Artemis created a seal, just enough to seal the Sorceress forever within her mind. Usagi-Ko's mouth gaped open, lost for words, left with nothingness.
"The last of the Chisais: Your time for redemption is over."
Just as Usagi-Ko was about to fall into Artemis's trap, two figures visualized behind her, a boy and a girl of about the same age. Usagi-Ko fell to the ground, seal broken. She could now see them clearly: ..Lumineux? ..Glace? ..Agatha?