Meine Liebe Fan Fiction ❯ Vertere ❯ One-Shot

Vertere is an entry for Mediaminer's Second Annual Maximum Fan Fiction Challenge. The categories entered are 'Unsung Titles' (the category wherein we—the participants—are to write a piece in a fandom that has less than five hundred fanfics) and 'And Then Cry Me a River' (the drama category).

 

I suppose you can see Vertere as post-Meine Liebe Wieder.

 

'Vertere' is Latin for 'to turn'.

 

VERTERE by SnowyBlackOwl

 

Loud gunshots rang through the campus of Rosenstolz Academy, and as soon as they were fired, footsteps pounded through cement flooring, out to the forest that lay lush and green and cascading behind the academy. A "Damn it!" pierced the deafening silence that reigned after the gunshots, and another expression, this time more vulgar, perforated the night air. Then came the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and as Orpherus and Eduard, both students of the prestigious academy and both candidates to become members of the king's Strahl, his advisors, stopped in the clearing in the heart of the forest, a bloody, traumatizing sight was left for them to see.

 

The moonlight descended down on the bloody figure of a young, brown-haired youth with such a pale face. In fact, Ishizuki Naoji's face in that one moment was so pale that when the moonlight hit it, the eerie light gave the finely-sculpted face an ethereal look, a look so not human that he appeared to be an angel whose wings had been forcibly stripped away from him. The young man lay so still that Orpherus feared that he was already dead, but when he and Eduard neared and felt his pulse—Eduard his neck and Orpherus his wrist—they found out Naoji was still alive, even if just barely.

 

"Ed! Orphe!" The voice that called out through the forest was one easily recognizable to the duo—Camus came through the trees, Ludwig not far behind. "Have you found—?"

 

But the youth's inevitable question was stopped immediately as he took note of the blood pooling behind the two other Strahl candidates. Behind him, Ludwig shifted, and the shnnk of the unsheathing of a sword resounded through the air. "Bastards," was his tight-lipped remark, and before any of the other three could make any move to stop him, he was already gone, one with the cold rush of the night air.

 

"Damn," said Eduard, loudly, "now what are we supposed to do about Naoji?"

 

"L—Lui—?" Orpherus gasped at the weakness in Naoji's voice—his quiet voice was more fragile, more vulnerable than it usually was, and shuddered, doing his best to hide it. Naoji forced himself to open his chocolate eyes, and although his vision was blurred, he knew those who surrounded him with—fear? anxiety?—with something, and then whispered, "O—Orphe?"

 

"I'm here," said Orpherus quietly. "Ed is here, too, as is Camus."

 

Naoji coughed, and the slightest hint of blood exited his mouth: "And Ludwig?"

 

The re-sheathing of a sword was a sound Naoji had grown accustomed to, and he did not even need to tilt his head to the right to know whose sword was being sheathed. He managed a very tiny smile that did not manage to reach his eyes entirely, "F—forget I asked."

 

"What did you do to those men, Lui?" asked Camus anxiously, his hand reaching up to touch the taller youth's shoulder as Ludwig looked placidly at Naoji.

 

Ludwig spoke, tightly, "Orpherus. Eduard. Camus. Leave us."

 

The three nodded, and left the clearing—Camus a bit reluctant—leaving the two other Strahl candidates to themselves. Ludwig eased himself down to the grass, his legs ending a bit farther away from Naoji's head, while Naoji's legs ended somewhere near his waist. "So," said Ludwig, his eyes boring into Naoji's peaceful face.

 

"It's come to this, hasn't it," said Naoji. There was an attempt at a smile that lingered on his face, even for just a little while, but as he stared pleadingly at Ludwig, the other's face was painfully emotionless.

 

"It has," was the toneless reply. "I am next in line should His Majesty die and Father throw away his right to claim the throne. People would kill, Naoji, to take the throne of Kuchen. [1]

 

"And they would, unsurprisingly"—here Ludwig snorted, tilting his head back so all of his hair fell back behind him, and his eyes were gazing at the darkening sky above them—"target the ones who are closest to me in a witheringly pathetic attempt to unnerve me." Naoji closed his eyes in content as he listened to Ludwig's ever-eloquent wording, then opened them again to the view of a sky no longer blue when the other youth continued, "They have started with—"

 

He paused, for once uncertain as to how to describe his relationship with Naoji, and settled for, "—the closest, and they seem to be working their way out."

 

Naoji coughed as he struggled to form a laugh, "Ingenious, their idea."

 

Ludwig mused heartlessly, "You would say that, wouldn't you."

 

Naoji lifted his head a small amount before strength completely deserted him, his head falling back to the ground with a thump. "I can't quite say that I'm glad this—everything—has to end this way."

 

"End, indeed," said Ludwig as he motioned to the sword on his waist. "Those fools."

 

The silence thundered in their ears, roaring like an uncontrollable storm. Naoji's heart thumped faintly, and it was the only thing Naoji's ears were focused on before Ludwig questioned him, "Do you plan on saying farewell today, Naoji."

 

He spoke it as though he was expecting Naoji to reply "Yes", which the Japanese youth did, adding, "It would take a miracle, and then some, to cure these wounds."

 

Ludwig put his lips together until they were but a thin line on his face, his eyes hardening. "I had"—he paused again. What was the proper word? Hoped? Wished? Wanted? Dare he even think it, needed? Then he picked up where he left off, "I had had a notion that said you and I would walk side-by-side on our paths."

 

Naoji made a move to reply, but his breathing came out in uneven gasps. Ludwig's eyes stared at him, then at the sky, and then back to Naoji, before he stood up and looked down at the Japanese native. He held out his hand, saying, "You must reach higher, Naoji." [2]

 

Naoji said in a breathy voice, "And you must learn to bend your back, Ludwig. Bend your back, so that those who are trying to reach you may do so."

 

The Ishizuki male reached his hand up painfully, and when he was almost there, when Ludwig was starting to actually bend his back to grasp his hand—

 

—the birds took to the sky from the trees, and Ishizuki Naoji had reached equilibrium.

 

They wouldn't know—Orpherus and Eduard and Camus would never know, but at that very moment, a tear rolled down Ludwig's cheek.

 

His gloved hand reached up to wipe it away, and with one last look of—longing?—something without a word and a definition, Ludwig, Herzog von Mohn Nahe Liechtenstein turned away, into the dark of night.

 

"Ave atque vale, Naoji..." [3]

 

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Fin - January 15, 2007

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[1] - Ludwig's mother is the Kuchen king's younger sister, thus—and my knowledge of genealogy is not the best there is—she is a princess and his father now a prince. Ludwig's 'herzog' is actually a title meaning 'duke', and if his father were to throw away rights to kingship, then I believe he would be next in line for Kuchen's throne. (Maybe? Maybe not?)

 

[2] - A fragment of a quote from the original season Meine Liebe, which in full is "Your humility suits you. But if you keep disparaging yourself life that, even your own special merits will become flaws. If you want to follow me, you must reach higher."

 

[3] - Ave atque vale is literally hail and farewell.

 

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Disclaimer:

"Meine Liebe" and "Meine Liebe Wieder" are two series by Bee-Train/KONAMI. This is a non-profit work written by a fan for the fans.

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