(Disclaimer: The Twelve Kingdom Characters belong solely to Fuyumi Ono, but Mariette and the other unknown characters I am writing about belong to me. If this disclaimer is wrong, then please do not sue me.)

Chapter 39: The Gods’ Gift

The scene of Mariette’s death faded leaving Yoko in a black abyss. Yoko was slowly beginning to stop crying.

“Please stop crying, your majesty.”

Yoko wiped her tears away and looked up sadly.

“So that’s how Mariette died?” asked Yoko.

“That is correct.”

Yoko clenched her hand and said, “I saw it till the end, so tell me why she was erased.”

“After Mariette’s death, the kingdom of Kei slowly began to crumble. Wuya’s sin of killing Mariette was so great; we decided to place the Kirin disease, Shitsudou, on her. She died in just a day and the servants of Mariette dumped her body in the ocean.

Afterwards, Tenshi, Rai, Narumi, and Hitaki canceled their contracts leaving the palace forever. The Kirin, Keiki, also lost any form of emotion and refused to choose a new ruler for Kei.

Yuki and Usagi starved themselves to death and Kishi lost all of his sanity causing him to attack the people of Kei.

Shouryou, the king of En, also lost his will to rule and his kingdom started to crumble. His Kirin, Enki, was affected by the Kirin disease, because of Shouryou’s poor ruling. Enki had lost the will to live and was willing to die claiming that he would see Mariette’s smile again.

Yue, the king of Kou, lost his will to live as well, and was going to commit suicide, but his Kirin, Kourin, stopped him repeatedly. His lost will to live affected his kingdom. One day, he finally succeeded in killing himself making the twelve kingdoms lose another ruler.

Kouya attempted to kill himself, but his Youma, Rokuta, was able to save him. Kouya refused to do his duties as a God or magician trying repeatedly to end his life. The kingdom of Kei lost all hope and it was beginning to affect the other kingdoms as well.

The twelve kingdoms were in chaos because of Mariette’s death, so we did the only thing we could think of.”

“You erased her from the legends,” said Yoko.

“That is correct. We made it seem that Tatsu-ou had ruled longer and erased Mariette completely from the people’s memories. The Kingdoms went back to their original forms and Keiki chose a new ruler later on.”

Yoko felt tears fall from her eyes and said, “They all loved her, but now they don’t know that she even existed.”

Yoko glared upward and asked, “Why show me this? Why did you show me the life of Mariette?”

There was silence and then she heard a voice say, “Because we wanted to know how you felt toward her.” Yoko looked up filled with confusion.

“How I felt?”

“That is correct.”

Yoko clenched her fist and said, “I feel sad. I watched Mariette all this time, but there was nothing I could do to help her. I wanted to tell her that she was doing a good job and I wanted to comfort her when she was feeling sad. I wanted to touch her to show that I was there.”

Yoko began to cry and said, “Watching her all this time, I wanted to say that I love her. Almost like a child.”

“That is what we wanted to hear, your majesty.”

Yoko blinked in confusion. A bright light appeared above her, but not bright enough to force her to close her eyes. Out of the light emerged a bundle of blanket. It went in front of Yoko and hovered before her. Yoko stared at the bundle filled with confusion.

“What is this?” asked Yoko. Yoko pulled the bundle to her and felt a warmness radiate from it. Yoko removed a piece of the blanket and gasped in surprise.

In the bundle was a sleeping baby with black hair. Yoko looked up in surprise and asked, “A baby?”

“That is correct; a lucky baby girl, who had a strong influence in history.”

Yoko looked down at the baby and came to a realization.

“Mariette?”

“That is correct.”

Yoko stared down at the baby and asked, “But how? Mariette is dead.”

“When Mariette died, we were able to save her spirit. We placed her in a Ranka and kept her here. We waited for years hoping to find someone who would be willing to accept her story and love her.”

Yoko looked up and asked, “Do you mean me?”

“You accepted her story and wanted to hold her. That is true love.”

The baby in Yoko’s arms suddenly awoke and began to cry. Yoko gasped and began to rock the baby. She looked up and asked, “Can I really watch over her?”

“We believe that you will make her a great person for the twelve kingdoms, your majesty.”

Yoko nodded and looked down at the crying baby.

“There, there,” said Yoko in a soothing voice. The baby slowly stopped crying and looked at Yoko with her bright green eyes. Yoko held the baby at eye level and smiled.

“I will take care of you,” said Yoko. The baby giggled and touched Yoko’s cheek. Yoko giggled and whispered, “Now I can definitely touch you.”

Yoko hugged the baby close and looked up.

“Thank you.”

The black void disappeared around Yoko making it clear that her stay was over. Yoko walked out of the building and down the steps with the giggling baby in hand.

When Yoko reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw Keiki waiting for her. Yoko smiled at him and asked, “Have you been waiting?”

Keiki nodded and stated, “You have been gone for three hours and the Nyosen were pestering me to eat.” Yoko giggled at Keiki’s comment.

Keiki suddenly noticed the baby in Yoko’s arms and asked, “What’s that?” Yoko showed the smiling baby to Keiki and said, “A gift from the Gods. She’s a half-beast and a black Kirin.” Keiki gasped in surprise.

“Don’t tell me that I was replaced?” asked Keiki in disbelief. Yoko laughed and said, “Of course not. The Gods just want me to watch over her as her new mother.” Keiki was filled with confusion.

The baby looked at Keiki and smiled brightly. Keiki stared at the baby confusingly. The baby reached out to Keiki giggling.

Yoko smiled and said, “I think she likes you, Keiki.” Keiki held a finger to Mariette. Mariette held his finger still smiling like a flower. Keiki showed a small smile feeling familiar warmth from the baby’s hand.

Yoko looked at Keiki and said, “I believe that you and the entire twelve kingdoms will love this child.”

Yoko and Keiki began to leave the mountain side by side. Keiki looked down at the baby, who was tugging at Yoko’s hair, and asked, “What is her name?”

Yoko smiled and held the baby up toward the shining sun with the baby giggling.

“Mariette.”

The End

KChanDreams: That's all folks.

Angel: Please don't do the Looney Toons.

KChanDreams: Fine. Anyway, that's the end. I bet some of you weren't expecting that to happen to Mariette, but I always planned to make Mariette die that way.

Angel: Yeah, but you didn't plan to make Mariette a baby at first.

KChanDreams: You're right about that, but it is a cute twist. Anyway, review the last bit of the story and let me know if you guys want a sequel or a oneshot of this story.

Angel: If you guys decide yes, I will most likely be in it and reveal the secret I have been keeping throughtout this story.

KChanDreams: Bye guys and read the other story I will be updating in Full Metal Alchemist when I have the time.