Avalyne War Stories

5th Story - Sakura

I paced around in the too-small room, my arms crossed as a frustrated expression no doubt spoiled my otherwise beautiful face. Across from me, my mother watched disapprovingly.

"Kazeyumi Sakura." She said. "Just what do you think you are doing?"

"...I'm thinking, mother." I replied, knowing full well that such a blunt and unarticulated answer would only further fuel her annoyance with my antics. "I'm thinking about my friends across the border. My friends and their country..."

"The empire was never truly our ally, Sakura. You need not concern yourself with them."

I frowned. Had it been anyone else, I would've taken a note from my time in the empire and spat out one of Medrauta's favorite lines, but this was my mother. Had I told her to "fuck off", she likely would've had me executed or something of the sort.

Perhaps that may be an exaggeration, but even now, her piercing gaze seemed to cut into my flesh. There was no doubt in my mind that she wanted to have me flogged at this very moment, but I didn't care. All I wanted to do was send a damn letter to Lady Viviane, but here I was trapped in a chashitsu because my mother was struck by a sudden whim to have a tea ceremony after a massive tower had just burst out of nowhere overnight. Quite literally, too.

I was asleep that night, and rather deeply too. It was the first time I'd fallen into such restful sleep ever since fleeing the empire. I still worried about their state of affairs, especially after I had barely managed to bid Viviane farewell before making my way back home, but I was sure that the nation would recover once Kaslavna was pacified.

However, the moment I was woken by violent tremors, I knew I had been wrong. At first, I thought it was just a routine earthquake. They were quite common here in Higashi, but as I thrust aside my window curtains that night, I laid eyes on a sight I never even thought possible. In the far-off distance, a massive black tower rose from the ground, continuing to approach the sky until it disappeared above the clouds where I could no longer see the extent of its height.

In all of history, there had only ever been one such structure to bear such a form, and it had been none other than the Witch Queen's very own Spire. The mere fact that this tower possessed such an uncanny resemblance to the accursed Spire of yore was clearly no coincidence, and the things Viviane had told me before my departure only served to worry me more.

Besides, I was certain of one thing: Amelia was at the very top of that tower. That traitorous bitch not only cut my stay in the empire short, but based on the reports from my father's intelligence officers, it seemed she'd sold her country out to Kaslavna too. Makes sense, since their respective attacks had pretty much been timed perfectly.

I sighed, turning my attention back to my waiting mother. Her mood had only soured during the past few seconds I spent engrossed in my thoughts. Whatever. I had already expected such an outcome.

"Mother. It is not the empire that I am concerned about, but the friends I made there. They are very dear to me despite the brevity of our time together, and I would very much like to write a letter to them."

"There is no point. Your letter will never be delivered through the empire's closed borders. They are at war and in disarray, daughter. If you and your friends are destined to meet again, then it shall come to pass. This is exactly why I proposed this tea ceremony."

"To stop me from writing a letter?" I asked incredulously. My mother was strict and rather self-centered at times, but she was never cruel.

"No." She said pointedly, emphasizing the word as much as the Higashian language allowed. "I wanted this to remind you of a quality that you seem to have forgotten ever since you left the walls of this humble house."