Archive of Our Own ^beta

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They met in a castle. Teto had lived there as long as she could remember, working various servant roles and enduring all sorts of hard work. She had no parents, yet the Lord and Lady of the castle were good people and often took in orphans as paid servants. The other servants of the castle took favor to her, her red hair hinted at magic powers not typically found by those of their status, and she was very willing to do tasks many people didn't often want to do. She learned quick and found that she did have a small grasp on magic that made these tasks much easier. Feeling useful made her feel good, and she took every chance to make others like her.

When Teto was 11 years old, she was running around collecting laundry and doing other various errands. Suddenly, when rounding the corner she ran into Lady Miku Hastune, the daughter of the Lord and Lady of the castle. They both fell, stunned. Eyes wide, Teto squeaked out an apology and hurriedly gathered the things she had dropped. Miku just stared at her with an icy expression, fitting of her blue hair. Teto was scared for days that she would be punished. And after the 5th day it finally happened.

Upon being summoned to Lady Miku Hastune's quarters, her stomach dropped. Keeping her head low she answered the summons quickly.

"What is your name girl? I was only able to find you after inquiring for days about a girl with red hair."

Suppressing the fear that would drop her to the ground, Teto shakily answered, "My name is Teto, your parents gave me the last name Kasane since I have no parents."

"And this red hair you have, is it your natural hair color?"

"Yes my Lady."

Miku paused as if in thought for a moment. The whole time she had been standing, hands clasped behind her back, staring out a window. Never facing Teto.

"You may be excused."

Stunned, Teto barely had the sense to bow before she walked out. She had hoped the punishment would be over quickly.

She had heard stories of the icy Lady Miku, the only daughter who was completely unlike her warm parents. She never spoke to servants and was barely seen, as she spent every day in sword practice and magic training. Everyone was scared of her, and various rumors circulated, though the validity of them was unknown. Teto had barely ever interacted with or seen Miku in the 10 to 11 years she had lived there. Despite only being 3 years older than Teto, she was said to have the sword skills of a full grown adult. It was a shame she had been born with barely any magic potential though.

Another few days passed, yet Teto knew the incident hadn't been forgotten. If Lady Miku had wanted to forget the incident she wouldn't have brought her to her quarters. She could have gotten her name from someone else. The summons were as if to say, "I want you to know I won't forget this." Teto also had the feeling she was being watched, and thought she caught a glimpse of blue disappearing in the window when she would look up tending the flower garden occasionally.

On the 3rd day, she was once again summoned to Lady Miku, yet this time it was on the training grounds.

"Teto, be my page girl. I am soon to become a full knight and shall need a squire. Declining is not an option."

Teto was confused, someone of her status didn't often become a page girl, let alone someone her age. There were plenty of other page boys and girls who had been training for their since a young age. She didn't even know where to start.

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Lady Miku Hastune was many things, but jealous was not one of them. She took opportunities where she saw them, and had learned strategy from the best of the best. This girl Teto was where she saw an opportunity.

She had always been intrigued by the red hair, but kept it her policy to not let others know her inner thoughts. She didn't care who liked her and who didn't. Upon purposefully bumping into Teto she had sensed a great potential for magic skill, just like she had expected. Despite being born without magic skill that could not be gained, she had been born with and trained her keen ability to sense the potential and power of others. So either this girl was hiding her power from others, or she had no idea what she could do.

The clear next step was to form an bond with this girl. If trained correctly, Teto's magic skills could perfectly complement Miku's sword skills to create an unbeatable team.

Of course there were other options of pages and squires Miku could choose from. Her family was moderately renowned in the kingdom for their works of charity. This fame was greatly increasing as Miku got older and stronger, her strong sword skill showing brighter and brighter. Everyone was sure she would be the youngest knight the kingdom had ever had. Many parents begged Miku and her family to take their child as a page, boasting of their high skills. Yet Miku found these candidates to be stuck up brats who thought too highly of themselves, they just wanted to use her as a stepping stone for their own path. There was no trust or bond that was required of the sword and magic duo she desired. They did not have the same values or goals.

Teto would be perfect. Miku had been watching her.

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WIP WIP there's still more to explain

An except from a young child's educational leaflet

Within this world there are rules, expectations, and responsibilities.

As someone born with a skill, you are expected to follow these rules, meet these expectations, and fulfill your responsibilities.

Your skill was gifted to you by Gumi, mother nature. Her faith in you to do what is right is why it was given to you. If you are to receive the same skills as your parents they must be of equal skill to each other. Those who marry others of unequal blessing will only bring about the downfall of their lineage. Pairing with someone of a much higher skill than you of any kind is prideful, pairing with someone of a much lower skill than you will hurt your lineage.

If your children are born with lower skills than you, you must have done something to anger our Goddess. Your family must work harder to put your skills to good use. If your children are born with higher skills than you, you have been blessed by the Goddess. If your child is born with a completely different skill kind than yours, they are a blessing, a curse, or a bastard.

The kind of skill you will receive from the Goddess is what your responsibilities will be. If you are born with a sword skill you are meant to protect or rule the land. If you are born with a magic skill you are meant to protect or rule the land as well but in a different way. If you are born with a crafting skill you are meant to aid the rulers and protectors. If you are born with a farming skill you are meant to feed the rulers and protectors.

Various other skills exist, and people can have multiple skills. Though, all the skills you have received will be related to the same purpose. The highest honor one can have is to rule or protect the country, and the second highest honor one can have is to support those who protect and rule the country. Going against your skill or not fulfilling your purpose is akin to going against Gumi. Going against Gumi means telling the Goddess you do not believe the world deserves to exist.

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Teto wiped blood off her sword. It still felt unnatural in her hand. Lady Miku told her that was normal, someone with no sword potential would find holding any weapon to be awkward for a while. Even after 10 years of training though, Teto much preferred to leave all the sword work to Lady Miku.

She looked up from her table, where she saw Lady Miku polishing her own sword across the tent. Teto would get in a lot of trouble if a higher ranked knight than Lady Miku found that Miku was polishing her own sword instead of her squire doing it. A squire was supposed to tend to a knights every beck and call, yet Lady Miku never let others touch her sword. It was an heirloom left from her father and mother who had died 5 years previously after being tricked by ruffians who appealed to their renowned pity for the lower class people.

"What are you looking at Teto?" Miku asked without stopping or looking up.

"I am sorry my Lady, I am just admiring your efficiency and trying to learn from you."

"Now is not the time for learning, we disembark early in the morning. I will not have you falling asleep when you should be alert to my needs. Clean your sword."

"Yes, my Lady."

It was whispered among people that the worst person to be a squire for had to be Lady Miku. She barely look at her squire, only barking orders and training the day away. She never even called her squire by name. The squire herself is said to have a magic skill potential, but it had never been demonstrated as notable enough to be a worthy complement to the Lady. Knights traditionally choose one of two types of squires, one of the same skill potential to have someone to mentor until they are ready to become an independent knight, or one with a complementing skill potential to cultivate a fighting partnership. This squire did not seem to be either of the two types. To make matters who confusing, the squire is a peasant. It seems Lady Miku just simply wanted a life-long servant.

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After 10 years of trials and tribulations together. Teto could say that she, of anyone, knew Lady Miku the most. That wasn't saying much though. Even Teto could never tell what was going on in Miku's head.

When she had been knighted at the age of 15, the youngest knight ever, she didn't even smile. It was as if she knew it were a certainty, and something that was inevitable. There was no use in getting excited or happy about a fact of the universe.

Miku was very serious, direct, and precise. She left as little up to chance as possible. She didn't need people skills because she didn't care what they thought and her life wasn't in anyone's hands. All that she asked was for them to follow her commands.

The one time Teto had seen Miku show emotion was when her parents died. She was away from the castle, training and being trained by other swordsmen. Teto received the message and brought it to Miku. As Teto knelt before her, waiting to be dismissed, she saw Miku become pale. It was such an odd sight she had half a thought to think that the message had been coated with a poison powder. But then Miku started crying. It was a soft and soundless weeping. Her face was scrunched up in the most wretched and pitiful expression and tears heavily flowed from her eyes. Teto could barely hear her faintly whisper.

"Please leave. Please go."

An hour later Miku left her tent, not a hint that she had been crying was shown. The slight red tint to her eyes could easily have been from being sleep deprived due to the grueling trainings. They returned to the castle the same day, as Miku had to ensure it would still run smoothly. It was lucky all the servants and guards were loyal to the former Lord and Lady of the castle or else they might have fled to work at another castle after such a lapse in security. And despite all their rumors about Lady Miku, they knew her to be a good leader who held the same values as her parents. The operations of the castle stayed stable.

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Teto greatly admired her Lady Miku. She saw how she enabled others as a leader and helped others to shine. Despite some other knights and mages with higher magic skill who would look down upon her, her extremely superior sword skills quickly shut them up.

Miku was also the only one who believed in her. Others were jealous of her and thought she was unworthy to train with and serve Lady Miku, but Miku still kept Teto by her side. Teto knew that this was her way of saying that she was worthy, despite not feeling it herself. Miku did not make mistakes.

This is why Teto had to work hard. She couldn't let all of Lady Miku's efforts go to waste. She had to get better at controlling her magic powers, she needed to make sure that if Miku were to ever get hurt she could heal her. But it was extremely hard.

For the first 11 years of her life she hadn't trained her skill. She only used it on a small scale to make her tasks and chores easier. Anything more than that might have been seen as too ambitious of a girl of her class. She feared the kindness of the Lord and Lady who took her would deplete if they were to feel their servant was trying to train to overthrow or become better than them. She had no evidence for this, but that is how she was taught society is by the servants who raised her.

Once someone reaches a greater age, it becomes harder and harder for them to train their skill. Starting from the age of 5 is crucial to ensure one can reach their full potential. It was as if the gods or deities who decided to grant the skills into the world would start to take the skill away if the person were to act as if they didn't really need the skill. Not training a skill was seen as akin to rejecting it.

But now that she was being made to train her skill, she found that it grew each day. She started too late to reach her full potential, and she wasn't born of noble blood, but she had to do her best to not let Lady Miku down. This was Teto's purpose in life.

Chapter Text

A war broke out. It was up to the knights and mages to protect the kingdom. This wasn't the first time Teto and Miku had been called to fight, but it was the first time it was an actual war. Small disturbances were common, most nobles didn't treat those living on their lands so well. Taxes were raised and peasants got hungry. Hungry people make angry people. Knights were called in to protect the peace.

But this time was different, it was against another country. Countries didn't often interact with each other. Kingdoms were more interested in maintaining and competing within the borders; conquests and land grabs happened between nobles who solved their problems with the law. Even political marriages were not common between nations, only between noble families. So what could have caused this war to be declared?

The official report was that the neighboring country had decided to go against nature. The country had been overthrown by a liberal mindset and decided to establish a government not based on what one is born to do, but based on a so called "democracy". They had to be stopped before this poisonous mindset angered nature and killed them all.

So the country in which Miku and Teto resided, Voca, declared war on their neighbor. And all the fighting knights and mages of the country were called to protect nature itself.

Having just established their new leadership, the country was caught off guard and in a disarray. Every person in the country was massacred. The land was stained with blood to the point that it became infertile. Even those too young to understand what a skill was were slashed in their cradles.

And this was done without remorse, for it meant stability, peace, and protecting all of humanity from the wrath of nature.