Progression of Evil

Chapter 6
Prince of Blue

"Well?" Luka asked the second she heard the door to the tea room open.

Kaito sighed, taking off his coat and scarf as her entered. "Well, what?"

Rolling her eyes, Luka said in slight annoyance, "Well, how did it go? What did you say? Was she really as evil as she's supposed to be?"

Kaito sat and sipped the cup of tea she'd poured. "Luka, it's cold!"

"Of course! It is nearly hot enough to blister a rock, and you went out in that heavy coat!" Luka smirked. "Besides, it's payback for not coming to me straightaway. I'm only your best friend, you know."

Kaito frowned. "I came straight home from the Yellow Kingdom!"

"After visiting the Green Country, that is…"

"Luka, that's not fair," Kaito pouted. "She's my bride-to-be."

Luka leaned back. "Yes, and I've still known you longer. Face it, Kaito, we were in diapers together, and no matter how much you love her, you just can't come between the bond we have." Leaning forward again earnestly, Luka changed the topic, "Now tell me what all went on!"

"Why are you so interested in that?" Kaito sighed, trying to avoid the question. "She's just a fourteen-year-old girl."

"Yes, and last year, she was a thirteen-year-old girl in service to me. I want to know if she's really changed that much. The rumors have her with a wicked smile, an even more wicked pair of horns, and wielding a blood-covered blade that's bigger than a grown man."

Kaito sighed again and leaned back, his hands immediately going behind his head. "Well, the rumors are vastly exaggerated, as usual. You forget that the same people who are spreading these also have you and I married for ten years and caring for three kids."

Luka laughed easily. "Alright, continue, then."

"She seems to be a normal girl at first, a tad vague, a lot spoiled, and quite a bit lonely. But there's something there," and here Kaito met his friend's eyes in all seriousness. "There's something hidden inside of her that scares me. Something that's not quite awakened yet."

"You think it's the Seed?"

Nodding, the Prince of Blue continued, "There hasn't been a catalyst yet, something to trigger its awakening. I think if we can reach her soon, we can bring her back here, into safety, and find a way to banish the Seed."

Luka blinked. "But the Green Country doesn't think so."

"As always, you know far too much, Luka," Kaito said, smiling slightly at her cleverness. "The Green King believes that the Seed is passed by genetics, so if they kill the Yellow Queen before she bears a child…"

"The Green King is a fool." Luka tossed her head, her magnificent pink tresses fanning out behind her. "The Children of Evil bear no resemblance to each other, nor do they even come from the same lineage. Rin was just a servant girl when she was discovered to bear the Evil Seed. She knew who her parents were, she knew her lineage. The Seed is random. But I think you're right about bringing her here. We need to show her she's not alone."

"Luka, maybe if you went…"

Immediately the elegant lady shook her head. "No. I can't see her, remember? It's against the Laws. Anyone who was close to her in her previous life…"

"I know, I know!" Kaito cut in, throwing his hands up in a sudden show of exasperation. "I just feel weird talking to a fourteen-year-old queen! She's so small!"

Luka rolled her eyes. "Get over it, you big baby. It has to be done!"

The Prince of Blue sighed again and noted he did that far too often around Luka as of late. "Alright, alright…"

Smirking, his childhood friend shot back, "Thought you'd see it my way."

"Rin?" Len asked for about the fourth time in four minutes. His twin had yet to notice that he'd entered the room, something strange in itself—Rin was always hyperaware of Len's presence—but not only that, she was pacing. Kagamine Rin, the girl who smiled often, acted happy all the time, and never even thought of worrying, was pacing around and around her bedchamber, a look of intense concentration marring her adorable countenance.

Len was still trying to figure out what exactly made his sister abandon her usual behaviors when suddenly she swirled and fell face-first on her bed, her fist pounding the bedspread beside her head. The blond servant-boy approached cautiously. "Rin? Are you alright?"

She sat up suddenly, her eyes bright and wide. "Fine, why?"

"Umm…" Len gave a small cough. "You were pacing."

"Was I? I'm sorry, I don't usually do that, do I?" Rin was being surprisingly blasé about the affair, and that frightened Len more than the actual act.

He sat on the bed next to her. "Anything you need to talk about?"

"Nope."

Len stared at her, studying every single nuance of her person, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Alright…anyway, the Green Country sent a messenger. He asks most courteously that we join the King and his son at a dinner. The Red Princess and the Blue Prince are both invited as well."

"Can I bring you?"

Len smiled. "Whether you could or couldn't, you would do it anyway, and they can't stop you."

"Too true!" Rin laughed. "It's almost tea time, isn't it?"

Taking her hand, her twin nodded. "Today's snack is brioche."

A week later saw the Green King observing his servants set the smaller dining table with his best silverware and dishes. Mikuo watched as well, his expression blank. Besides him stood a blushing girl in an emerald gown, her sea-green ponytails brushed and styled to perfection. She kept giving the aloof Prince of Green side glances, but he ignored her.

A servant ran in just as the others were leaving, announcing loudly, "Teto-hime and her fiancé have arrived!"

The young Red Princess emerged first, her red gown accented with gold and her drill pigtails tied with gold ribbon. Ted came next, in a white suit accented with red and gold. Teto greeted the King with a curtsy, Mikuo with a smile, and the girl with an uncertain smile.

"So, where are Kaito-oujisama and the Yellow Queen?" Teto asked Mikuo as she approached him.

The sea-green-topped Prince became suddenly animated in the Red Princess' presence. "They haven't arrived yet, Teto-chan, but I expect that they'll be here soon. Kaito-san is always on time, but the Yellow Queen likes to make an entrance, so she'll probably be fashionably late."

"Mikuo!" the King scolded him gently.

"Father, it's just Teto-chan and Miku here…"

Teto glanced at the girl. "Oh, so your name is Miku?"

The girl nodded, keeping her eyes downcast. She did look remarkably like the Green Prince…

"Mikuo-san, is she your sister?"

Mikuo nodded, keeping his features natural only by force of will. "My twin. She doesn't come out much, because Father is so overprotective of her." It was the excuse the King had told Mikuo to say whenever he was asked this question. As a seasoned courtier, Mikuo knew when to follow orders without question, and this was one of those times, though inside his head the questions raged and roamed.

Teto nodded and accepted his lie. They were close friends; the Red Princess would never suspect Mikuo of foul play.

Ted put a hand on her shoulder. "Princess, will you sit now? You've been standing for a long while."

She gave him a radiant smile that Mikuo envied. "Yes, Ted-san, thank you." She was just being seated when the servant entered again, announcing the arrival of the Yellow Queen and her servant.

"You predicted wrong, Mikuo," the King said with a little laugh while Mikuo grumbled, his face once again stone-like in the absence of Teto's interest.

The fourteen-year-old dainty beauty entered a step before her servant, her full-skirted gown a rich shade of gold and appearing to be pure silk, every last inch of it. She wore her hair pinned back and today sported her trademark huge black bow. Her servant was dressed in a white frilly shirt, standard black dress pants, and a golden vest to match his mistress, all also made of silk. It was certainly clear that the Yellow Queen saw the dinner as an excuse to flaunt her extreme wealth. Mikuo's teeth clenched involuntarily at this unnecessary, garish show.

"Good evening, everyone," Rin said at her most polite, giving a small curtsy to Teto, the Green King, and both Mikuo and Miku. "Now, I know Teto-hime and Mikuo-oujisama, but who is this lovely girl next to him?"

Miku kept her eyes pointed towards the floor and remained silent, but Mikuo saw her faint blush. He answered in her stead, "This is Miku. She's my twin sister."

"I don't recall being informed of a Green Princess being born…" Rin said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Look at her, my queen," Mikuo said easily. "With a beauty like her, naturally Father is overprotective. He wishes her to hide inside the Palace as much as necessary. This dinner is her first formal affair since Kaito-oujisama's ball last year."

Rin tossed her short locks. "That still doesn't explain why I wasn't informed. I try to keep track of my subjects, you know."

"Oh, but Rin-sama," the Green King said soothingly. "We didn't want you to be jealous of my girl here, so we tried to keep her hidden, just so that you would always know who the most beautiful woman in the world is."

Rin paused, a slight smile touching her lips. "Well, if that's it…I'll let it go, for now. Hello, Princess," the Yellow Queen said magnanimously, giving a nod to the blushing girl.

"H-hello, Rin-ojousama," Miku said quietly, dipping a curtsy so low she almost fell to the ground.

"Am I late?" a new voice intruded. Miku's head shot up at the same time Rin whirled, both girls immediately placing the voice. The Green King smiled affably and Teto beamed.

"Kaito-san!" Mikuo exclaimed, rushing forward to embrace his friend. The tall, strapping blue-haired prince warmly accepted the Green Prince's welcome and then nodded to each of the men in the room and bowing to the women. His bow to Miku was equally as deep as the one he gave Rin, and this tiny detail was not lost on Rin, who scowled slightly before allowing Len to seat her.

The dinner began then, and except from the occasional frown and snide remark from Rin, all went well, and the Green King stinted nothing in serving his guests. His eyes, though, constantly flicked between Kaito and Miku, carefully watching their interactions. In the presence of so many nobles at once, Miku became nothing but a blushing girl, and Kaito was as charming as always to the entire table; it looked as if neither of them was willing to push the courtship envelope at the table.

Neither the Green King nor Rin was watching Len, however, and his eyes hung all over the young green-eyed girl sitting across from the Blue Prince. He had no idea, none at all, that the kind girl who helped him pick out Rin's present would be such a noble lady, that she would be the Green Princess! The First Servant stared wide-eyed at her, not believing that she sat at the right hand of the Green King, where traditionally the favored guest would sit.

Miku glanced at him once, and her blush deepened as she recognized the blond boy seated on Rin's right. Duty warred with desire in her mind from that moment; did she allow Kaito to court her subtly, or did she engage in active conversation with Len, the Yellow Queen's treasured servant? They did look extraordinarily alike, Miku noticed during the dinner. Before tonight, she had never laid eyes on the Daughter of Evil, and the young girl was astonished to see how absolutely normal Rin seemed. With the stories she'd been told, Miku half-expected to see an ugly beast draped in yellow fabric, but the young Yellow Queen was…cute, to say the least.

Somewhat awkwardly, Teto and Ted rose first to leave, thanking the Green King generously for his hospitality. "You did all receive invitations to my wedding? I sent my best messengers to all of you."

"Yes, Teto-hime," the Green King nodded, "Please give my regards to your parents."

"They had so hoped to come," Teto sighed. "But with Father's illness…"

The Green King held up a hand to stop her. "It's understandable, Teto-hime."

"Goodbye, Teto-chan," Mikuo said, standing to bow to her.

The Red Princess and her fiancé left then, and Kaito stood at the same time Rin and Len did. Seeing where the Blue Prince's glance went, the Green King and Mikuo together engaged the delegation from the Yellow Country in conversation so that Kaito could quietly lead Miku out into the main hall.

"I expect to not be kept in the dark ever again," Rin said in response to the Green King's effuse apologies about keeping Miku hidden.

"Oh, never again, Rin-sama. It was an old man's mistake, and it will never be repeated."

Rin nodded, her eyes scanning the almost-empty dining room. "Well, I'll take my leave of Kaito-oujisama, then. Come along, Len," she commanded softly, but her twin was still conversing with Mikuo. She sighed and exited the room herself, looking for the man she so fervently desired.

She found him just around the corner, tenderly holding the Green Princess in his arms, his lips locked with hers, and her body leaning into him, drinking him up.

Rin's rage overtook her. She didn't remember what happened after that, only that she was boiling, boiling, and her legs were pumping beneath her, and her hands were shaking, shaking, and there was Josephine, her mare, and she was in the saddle somehow, and her knuckles were turning white as she grasped the reins with maddening desperation and Josephine was galloping, galloping, galloping away from that horrid place and that two-faced wench with her sea-green ponytails and her blushes and her beauty.

She fell off of Josephine at one point and rolled, her fists pulling up grass and throwing it in her anger until she found rocks and started pitching them as hard as she could at the ground, watching them shatter and imagining each one as that girl's demure face. She ranted and raged to the world, throwing whatever came to her fingers, tearing at the ground, not caring that she had no idea where she was or how to get home.

Rin collapsed soon, her manic energy finally spent, her eyes closing as she breathed heavily. Josephine came wandering back at that point, content to wait with her mistress until she was ready to ride again. Her white body was the signal Len needed to find his sister, alone and unconscious in the tall grass of the open Green Country. She'd gone the opposite direction of where she needed to and had found herself in uninhabited country. Len found her after pushing his horse so hard he thought the poor beast would soon keel over and die from exertion.

"Rin," he sighed in relief, glad to find her alive and relatively unharmed. Her hands were dirty, torn, and streaked with blood, but they were the worst injuries; she was only mildly bruised from her fall, cushioned by her numerous silk skirts. He lifted her gently and sat her on Josephine, climbing up behind her to take the mare's reins. Looking to the horse he'd borrowed from Mikuo, Len decided to leave it where it was. It would find its way back home.

The journey back to the Yellow Country took longer than usual, but Len was afraid to push Josephine any more than she'd already been. It took almost a full day to return to the Yellow Palace, and still by then Rin hadn't awakened. Len slid off the white mare, catching his sister as she tumbled towards him, and cradled her in his arms as the stablemaster took Josephine.

"Len-sama, is there…"

"Please take good care of Josephine," Len interrupted the nosy man's question. "The Queen is exhausted. We rode through the night." With that, Len carried his twin through the doors and into her chambers, laying her gently on the bed before grabbing a basin filled with water to scrub her hands clean and bandage them.

It was as he was finishing up that Rin finally stirred and opened her eyes, and when she looked at him, Len only saw wild fire in the bright sapphires. "I want her dead. Kill all the women with green hair if you must, but I want that girl dead. Do you hear me?" Her voice had been rising in volume, but now she screamed her last statement with everything she had in her. "I WANT HER DEAD!"

Len didn't know what she was talking about. But if it was an order from his princess…

"It will be done."

"Luka, Luka, it's happened! It's happened and it's all my fault!" Kaito shouted, stumbling through the door to the tea room and falling to his knees. The elegant pink-haired woman was immediately at his side, pulling him up, supporting his weight against her.

"What's happened? What's your fault? Kaito, you're not making any sense!" Slowly she pulled him over to the small table, where she sat him down forcefully and took her own seat, giving him an intense stare. "Now, tell me everything."

"The catalyst, Luka!" Kaito pulled at his hair. "I can't believe it! I'm such a fool!"

Luka slapped his hands away. "You're only a fool if you keep babbling like one. Now tell me, Kaito, what is going on?"

The Prince of Blue heaved a great sigh and collected himself. "The catalyst, Luka. The catalyst for Rin's Seed. Remember that?"

"Yes?"

"I was the catalyst, Luka! My decision carried her fate on it, and I simply dismissed it!" Kaito clenched his fists. "I didn't tell you, but she sent me a marriage proposal. I turned her down on account of her young age. That's what I wrote."

Luka blinked. "But it was for your Green Maiden."

"Yes, it was for Miku-chan! But now, but now, I've ruined everything!" Kaito groaned, and then continued, "I played it down at the Green King's dinner. I didn't want Rin to catch on. But she saw! She saw me saying goodbye to Miku-chan, and she got so angry…"

Suddenly Luka leaned forward. "She got angry?"

"Yes! She stomped her foot and ran up and slapped Miku-chan and ran out of the Palace, cursing all the way. Her servant ran out after her, but she was already gone."

"Kagamine Rin got angry?"

Kaito nodded. "Didn't I just say that?"

Luka groaned and fell back against the back of her chair. "Oh, Kaito, you've ruined everything now! She's lost! She's lost to her destiny now!"

"I know! I know, Luka! And—" Kaito was cut off by the rushed arrival of a messenger.

"Kaito-oujisama! The Green King sends an urgent request for assistance! The Yellow Kingdom has moved to invade!"

"Shit!" Kaito exclaimed, immediately out of his chair and bolting. "Luka, stay here and rouse the guardmaster! He'll know how to assemble the army."

"Where are you going?" Luka cried, standing.

He spared her a glance. "To Teto-hime. Rumor has it she recently enlisted a mercenary with ties to the Yellow Kingdom. I want to see what he'll do for us."

"Are you sure—"

"No, but something needs done! Get the army roused!" and Kaito was gone, leaving a bewildered Luka standing next to an equally confused servant.

"Good luck…" Luka whispered, holding her hands to her heart for a moment before moving to her tasks.