Consequences of the Maou\'s Heart

Chapter 4

Gisela stared blankly at Wolfram as she processed everything that had happened in her sanctuary in the last few minutes. Yuri was breaking the engagement, Wolfram was going to willingly start dieing again, and she was going to beat some sense into one or both of them. She looked deeply into his eyes as she brought her boot down on the top of his foot with all the anger she could muster.

“OYE WHAT THE HELL!!” The former prince leaped up and attempted to hop away from Gisela, but was rewarded with a smack to the back of his head for his efforts.

“You giant MORON! How the hell can you think he won’t find out about this?!” she yelled as she gave up her physical attacks for a few verbal ones instead. “He’s not going to wonder about you suddenly starting to cough up blood everywhere?! What are you going to do, bury yourself in the garden and hope no one notices the smell?!” She growled dangerously and made to continue assaulting the blond.

“HEY! Hey stop it!” ducking behind a cabinet as glass shattered above his head, Wolfram tried to explain what he’d been thinking, “Look he’s not going to wonder about the blood if he can’t see me, and unless someone at castle can smell the scent of death from miles away the smell is the last thing I have to worry about.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Gisela put down the stool she’d been intending to throttle him with and stared at his hiding spot as though its occupant had lost his mind.

“After he breaks the engagement I’m leaving,” he carefully peeked around the edge to see if hurricane Gisela had lost some of her viciousness.

“Yeah right, as if any resident of this castle would let you leave after that. Hell I know there are at least ten people who’d try to keep you here just to increase their odds of winning the betting pool.”

“They’ll let me go if it’s a royal order,” he gingerly stepped out from behind the cabinet as he noted the healer’s lack of destructive activity.

“Ha! Yuri may be an insensitive ass sometimes but there is no way he’d send you away. He wouldn’t send any of the people he considers friends away, even if they want to leave.” Crossing her arms confidently, Gisela eyed the blond as he righted the chair he’d occupied as they began their discussion and sat down.

“He will if someone advises him that letting me have some time to deal with my broken heart might save him a few broken bones.” With a touch of nervousness he watched as she strode closer to him.

“And pray tell whom do you expect to advise the Great Maou-Heika Shibuya Yûri, Harajuku Fûri on such a delicate matter?” She perched a hip on the edge of the table and waited for his answer.

“The man best suited for manipulating Heika in to doing something without knowing what exactly it is he’s doing. The one and only Great Sage Murata Ken.”

“You expect him to go along with some half cocked plan that more than likely involves lying to Yuri. Never let it be said Wolfram von Bielefeld didn’t know how to come up with a bad joke.”

“I expect him to do what’s best for Shin Makoku. Let’s face it I’m going to be dead sooner rather than later. Either Yuri figures out that his choice is what lead to my death or as far as he knows I died out in the country somewhere fighting bandits or something. The former will eat at his conscience far more than the latter.” Wolfram rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together as he let Gisela absorb his reasoning.

“Shit, you’ve actually thought this through. Weren’t you supposed to be a pretty boy that didn’t need to think?” Her forehead rested lightly in the palm of her hand in order to starve off a growing headache.

“I guess I’ve always been a disappointment to mother that way,” he joked as he shrugged his shoulders apathetically.

“And if I decide to running about the castle shouting ‘Wolfram is dieing’ what will you do?”

“I suppose I’ll get a demonstration of what exactly happens to an oath-breaker, if you’re even able to speak the words.”

“It would be too much to ask that you would have forgotten about that.”

“Even if I had, your Maryoku is unlikely to have forgotten.” The two Mazoku stared at each other hoping to see a hint of defeat in the other’s face even as they ruminated over the events that brought them to this moment.

-Flashback-

The sun beat down mercilessly on a few figures on horseback crossing a field of wild flowers and weeds. A man atop an elegant white mare led the way, obviously more familiar with the territory than his companions. Following just behind him rode a taller woman, she gently stroked her mount’s mane as they rode hoping to keep the unfamiliar creature calm despite the load it was carrying between it’s rider and her large saddle bags. Several meters back a pair of soldiers in blue uniforms trained their eyes towards the surrounding area, on the lookout for any trouble makers or predatory animals that might be near by. As the group neared a small lake that marked the start of a forest and the end of the field, the lead rider pulled his steed to a halt. Pointing at the vegetation growing around the lake he called to the female behind him.

“Hey Gisela I think the weed your looking for grows pretty well around here, heartleaf or what ever it is you were calling it.” Gracefully dismounting the horse he led it over to a tree and tied the reins to a low branch.

“Really Wolf for the last time it’s called heartstem! Not heartsease, heartwood, or even heartthorn!” she huffed as she follows his example and settled her mount next to the blond’s.

“Yea yea most of the people around here just call them weeds. I still don’t understand what you hope to learn from studying them. Our local healers haven’t found a medical use for them in centuries of practice; mind you they’ve been used to make a fantastic cup of tea when mixed with a few mint leaves.” As Wolfram finished speaking he turned to glare at the soldiers still on horseback. The two men quickly got the hint and dismounted their horses as well, tethering them to some trees a little bit south of the other horses.

“It’s true that it has no ability to fix an ailment or heal a wound. However, most of the soldiers from this area have an almost perfect immunity to most colds and flus. When my tent was filled with sniffling and vomiting, the men from the Bielefeld lands were completely unfazed. As far as my research has shown this is the only plant that grows solely in this area.” Rifling around in her saddle bag she retrieved two spades and several burlap squares.

“Ha are you sure it’s not just that the rest of Shin Makoku is filled with wimps?” Wolfram smirked sarcastically as he motioned for her to hand him one of the spades. She tapped him lightly on the forehead with the tool before placing it in his hand.

“Maybe cocky brats are just naturally resistant to sickness. Now help me dig up some of these. Be careful of the roots, just the shock of transplanting them could kill them no need to add excessive root damage.” As she knelt down to begin digging Wolfram glanced over at the soldiers to see if they had paid any attention to the exchange. Both seemed more interested in scanning the tree line than watching their companions. The Bielefeld territories closely bordered one of the human nations and despite it being nearly two decades since the treaty that ended the last human/Mazoku war most of Shin Makoku’s soldiers were distrustful of humans. These two were the same age as the third prince and had only seen combat near the end of the war. Unfortunately some of the worst atrocities of the war occurred just before the end of the war as both sides began to cast aside their honor in hopes of coming out on top. Majutsu users were called upon to lay waste to human villages and human Sorcerers devised new methods of using esoteric stones to disable Mazoku both on the battlefield and in their homes.

Deciding that his reputation hadn’t been marred by his interaction with Gisela, Wolfram began helping the healer collect some of the plants. It was hard enough gaining the respect of the men under his command without them wondering at his obedience to a person technically below him in rank. Most of the army and Shin Makoku in general tended to believe that he had achieved his position due to Lady Celi’s tendency to want to spoil her children. Few knew of the assignments he’d been given outside of typical military maneuvers. All told he likely had more innocent blood on his hands than either of his brothers, it was one of the few reasons he wished he had never made a contract with the fire elements. Flames were the easiest way to take out a village without making it clear the damage was intentional instead of accidental. A few bits of dirt hitting the side of his head startled Wolfram out of his dark thoughts.

“You really need to learn to listen when someone’s talking to you.”

“Sorry Gisela I just got caught up in my thoughts, what were you saying?”

“I only need a few more plants but I’d like to get some soil and water samples just in case there is something in them that is necessary for the plants growth.” She started dipping the burlap squares in the lake before setting a plant on each one.

“Oye,” Wolfram called out to the soldiers, “Edward, Simon I want you two to gather some of the lake water and some of the dirt around here for Miss Gisela. You can use the jugs I had you attach to your pommels and I should have somesacks in my pack.” He dusted off his hands and walked towards his horse to retrieve the sacks. The soldiers muttered a short “yes sir” and quickly grabbed the jugs and began filling them.

“Hey Wolf I left the twine to tie these up with in my bag could you grab it for me?” Gisela shouted over her shoulder.

“Sure, sure I’ll just gra…” his sentence broke off as heard some noises coming from the trees near his horse, “Halt who goes the…” the second time he was interrupted by a man leaping out of the foliage flinging dirt at him.

“Dirty Monstrous Murderer! Your kind don’t deserve to live!” the man screamed as he threw himself at the coughing prince. The soldiers and Gisela heard the commotion and began running toward the tussle. Wolfram grabbed the man’s arms and forced him to the ground still coughing as his lungs attempted to dispel the foreign debris he had inhaled during the man’s initial attack. “You killed him, you killed my SON!! Bastard son of the jackal!!” It was clear the man had lost more than a little of his sanity as he continued to spout random insults at the blond. As the others neared the struggle the man’s words gave way to disguising gurgling, a pool of red started forming under the two combatants.

“Wolfram!” Gisela shouted at the still hacking prince. He looked up at her as the resistance left his attacker’s body.

“I -cough- I think –wheeze- he’s dead.” The prince stood up off of the body and toed him over to rest with his face toward the sky. Blood covered his mouth and a bit of flesh rested on the ground where his face had been pressed to. Gisela checked his vitals but it was pretty clear the man had bitten off his own tongue to avoid capture. Wolfram still hadn’t stopped coughing and was now on bent over on his knees grasping at the ground.

“Wolf, what’s wrong?” Gisela rushed over to the prince’s side

“Bastard –cough- threw something at me –wheeze-I breathed some of it in.” One last violent round of coughing triggered his gag reflex and he vomited on the ground in front of him. Rolling on to his back away from the puddle he attempted to regain his breath. Gisela moved to examine the area the fight had occurred in and noticed there was an odd colored dust scattered on the ground. She made to touch some of it but was struck by how utterly wrong it felt to get too close to it. The Maryoku in her body seemed to rebel against her coming into contact with the powder. A chill raced up her spine, she’d seen something like this before. In a now infamous battle Lady Susannah Julia von Wincott died exhausting her Maryoku in the attempt to heal soldiers from the effects of a very similar substance. She glanced at the two soldiers awkwardly gripping the hilts of their sheathed swords; they seemed torn between helping their fallen commanding officer and watching for any further attack.

“You two check the perimeter for any others lying in wait. Cover you mouths and noses, and for Shinou’s sake don’t get yourselves injured.” The soldiers looked at her questioningly.

“You heard the lady, move it!” the voice of their commanding officer drove them into action. Pulling the necks of their shirts up from under their jackets the men cautiously stalked around the trees in the area searching a few feet forward in the woods. Gisela shook her head at the soldiers; Wolfram’s seemed to be the only ones able to disobey what others had dubbed her Sergeant’s voice. Trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice she called out to Wolfram as she moved to further inspect the corpse.

“I think your constant yelling has dulled their ears.” She took in the state of the body. He was dressed in roughly sewn together animal skins, the smell coming off him seemed to indicate he hadn’t washed in a while. If he was as human as she suspected him to be the gray in his hair and wear on his skin put his age well into his fifties.

“Ha –pant- maybe you’re just loosing your touch,” Wolfram responded after hearing the well disguised tremor in the healer’s words. A few clouds drifted across the sky as the prince stared upwards. He wasn’t stupid; the attack was unusual. Even during the war very few battles occurred along this border. Both his uncle and the regent lord over the human lands detested the idea of bloodshed on their lands.

“Sure that would explain why your brothers still jump in to action with a few words.” Focusing in on the task at hand Gisela began checking the body for distinguishing marks. During the war a number of humans took to tattooing symbols on their flesh designating the family, rank, and vocation; it made the identification of bodies easier for those left to collect the dead. Gisela had seen the symbols many times before and had managed to decipher the meaning of the rank and vocation symbols fairly easily. The two symbols staring up at her from the man’s neck were worrisome. One marked his rank as a Corporal. The other was the real cause of her distress, a small diamond with stars chained around it, the mark of a Sorcerer.

“Gisela?” Wolfram had turned his head to face her and had noticed the slight tremor running though her body, “Something isn’t right, what’s wrong?” The healer stilled as best she could when she noticed his attention.

“How… what are you feeling, and don’t gloss anything over.” Her eyes remained trained on the body; if she looked at Wolfram she was sure she would be unable to remain calm.

“I… well I feel sore and nauseous,” he turned his eyes upward again and took a deep breath, “The sun feels warm on my skin but it’s like I’m breathing in cold winter air. …It wasn’t dirt was it?”

“No… I…. Oh Hell! I’m pretty sure it’s Mausetot.” Towards the end of the war the humans began focusing on attempts to kill Mazoku with as little effort as possible. The end result of their experiments was Mausetot, a blend of a rare esoteric stone, human blood, and some other ingredients that had never been identified by Mazoku researchers. Unlike most poisons, Mausetot took anywhere from a month to a year or two to kill the intended target. All it took was a few grains entering the body for that person’s death to become inevitable. Human soldiers brushed it along their weapons, turning wounds that should have been nothing into fatal injuries. Small amounts of the mixture were wrapped in thin bits of paper to be thrown at Mazoku warriors. Only the most skilled of healers could sense the presence of the poison in a Mazoku’s body. Julia was present at the battle that marked the first heavy use of Mausetot. Gisela had stood at her side as she realized what was happening to the men Julia had sworn her life to healing. Pouring her Maryoku into the soldiers’ wounds Julia attempted to draw the poison from their bodies, but the fine grains attached themselves to the muscles and other tissue they came in contact with instantaneously. After the battle the Mazoku soldiers began dieing slow deaths, the quickness of their deaths varied due to the amount of Mausetot in them and the method it was introduced.

“HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahAHAHAHAHAH” Wolfram’s slightly deranged laughter rang out across the field. The irony of the situation was not lost on him. Shortly after that battle Stoffel had convinced Celi to allow him to send out troops to destroy human villages, if the humans could stoop so low then so would they. Wolfram’s first assignment as a Captain was to burn a human villages to the ground, Stoffel had been furious that he let a significant amount of humans escape unharmed but blood of those he’d killed in cold blood still haunted him. Maybe this man who had poisoned Wolfram had lost his son in that fire, it was unlikely but it would have been damn ironic.

“Sir, Ma’am it looks like there is no one else in the area. We did find what appeared to be a rough path leading deeper in the woods. Would you like us to investigate?” Simon reported the soldiers’ findings while trying not to look unnerved by Wolfram’s behavior.

“Yes go!” Gisela barked at the soldiers, causing them to dart off towards the woods again. She turned to look at Wolfram again, his laughter had stopped at the soldiers began speaking. “Wolfram?” when he didn’t respond she continued, “Wolfram… there’s no… no one survives Mausetot.” She watched as he slowly sat up and wrapped his arms around his knees.

“So that’s it then, I’m…” he trailed off, eyes staring blankly forward. Gisela moved toward the blond intending to comfort him, but he scrambled back from her touch.

“Wolf what?” She had not seen him this vulnerable in a very long time.

“Don’t touch me! What if you get it in you?” He shivered, curling up on himself again while eyeing her warily.

“Don’t tell me you believe that nonsense, if it was that easy to transfer we’d have a chance of removing it,” she growled as she grabbed him around the shoulders in a tight embrace.

“B..but you remember the soldiers coming back with it, no one would even go near them,” his voice shook despite his best efforts to keep it steady, “They all died alone.”

“Oh Wolf no one’s going to leave you.” She continued to hold him as a few hot tears broke through his resolve to soak into her shirt. They sat there several minutes till the sound of people approaching reached their ears causing them to separate. Turning towards the noise Wolfram wiped his face on the sleeve of his uniform just before his soldiers stepped into the clearing.

“Sir?” the two men could tell something had happened to their commanding officer, his face was slightly red and he was seated unusually close to Miss Gisela. If they didn’t know better they’d say he had been crying. Ranting, raving, throwing objects and lighting others on fire was par for course with Wolfram von Bielefeld, but crying was unheard of.

“What did you find?” Gisela snapped at them. They looked mildly uncomfortable at her demand, but quickly decided it was in their best interest to respond when Wolfram leveled a red eyed glare at them.

“There seems to be a long standing camp a few meters into the woods. All indications are that a single individual has been living there for months if not years. The only disturbance in the foliage is the path that leads to the lake. The camp contained a small garden area with a few plants, a tent with standard camping gear, and a work area that we were unable to investigate fully,” Simon accounted as Edward stood behind him looking slightly green.

“And why didn’t you examine the work area?!” Gisela ground out of clenched teeth.

“When we approached the space we found ourselves nearly incapacitated. Edward attempted to go in further but was forced to the ground and passed out momentarily, I was able to pull him back but we were unable to continue the examination.” Simon was able to give his account of their findings with only a few beads of sweat giving away his fear of the healer’s wrath.

“Is this the truth Corporal?” at Edward’s hasty nod Gisela continued, “Damn it! He must have been manufacturing that garbage here for months. I absolutely hate Sorcerers!” At the mention of Sorcerers both soldiers turned to face the body sharply, as though they expected it to rise up and start attacking them. Those who had the ability to wield and manipulate esoteric stones had a very bad reputation amongst most Mazoku soldiers who had the opportunity to fight them.

“Stand down men, that husk of a human no longer has any power to harm,” Wolfram spoke up for the first time since the soldiers returned, “If what you've said is truthfull it would seem he’s been living as a hermit for a while so it’s unlikely he’s working under the orders of any human nation. It would be best if we kept any word about this incident to ourselves.” Three pairs of confused eyes turned toward him.

“What the hell are you talking about Wolfram!? That ass just killed you!” her statement brought shocked gasps from the soldiers, “You can’t expect us to kept this quiet, if nothing else we have to make sure the humans aren’t planning to break the treaty by mass producing Mausetot again!” The soldiers’ eyes bulged, they had seen the man throw something at Wolfram but Mausetot was the last thing they had imagined being flung at him.

“And what if he was one lone insane leftover of the war working on his own? Do you think either of my uncles will let it rest? Waltorana will be calling for blood, and Stoffel will use it to start another war if he gets the chance!” Wolfram sprung to his feet as he yelled.

“But Wolfram how many more will die if this is just the start?” Gisela asked before trailing off, hoping the prince would come to his senses. After a few long moments Wolfram spoke.

“We will tell them we came upon him visiting the lake, he tried to attack us but was unsuccessful. Upon realizing there was no way he could escape he took his own life. We searched the woods to figure out just where he came from and found his work space. That’s close enough to the truth and should allow for a more peaceful investigation. If the humans were backing him completely we will inform them of my… condition. But if he was working alone we don’t tell anyone.” Wolfram delivered his plan calmly with a dead look in his eyes.

“…Wolf even if he was working on his own you still only have at max two years left, they are going to recognize the symptoms for what they are.”

“In two years either we will know if he was on his own or working with the rest of the humans. We’ll either already be at war or the chance of war will be greatly diminished. And when I get close to …di… being gone I’ll tell everyone what happened.” The prince had been pacing back and forth as he spoke but now stood still waiting to see how Gisela would respond. As much as she hated the idea she had to admit he was right in many ways. Humans and Mazoku were still too wary of each other, the Queen’s son dieing from a forbidden poison could easily spark enough tension to start another war.

“Fine Wolf I won’t tell anyone about your condition, but once we find out more about this man’s connection to the humans if anyone asks specifically about your condition I will not lie to them.” She spoke even as she planned to break the news to Celi the moment she was sure it wouldn’t start a war.

“Good then you won’t mind taking a blood oath to that effect, just to be sure?” Wolfram had seen her eyes twitch to the left as she spoke, the same movement he’d seen her make a thousand times when trying to get out of trouble when they were younger.

“What!? Don’t you trust me?” she shouted.

“I trust you but I also know you are as hard headed as they come, the oath is for my own piece of mind,” Wolfram offered her a small sad smile.

“Fine! I’ll do it, you jack ass.” She crossed her arms in annoyance. Wolfram turned to the soldiers once he had insured Gisela’s acquiescence.

“I expect you two to take a similar oath.”

“But Sir!” Simon exclaimed.

“Think of your friends and family gentlemen, do you really want to chance putting them thought another war.” Wolfram watched as the two soldiers processed the idea before slowly walking towards their commanding officer with depressed acceptance in their demeanor.

On that sunny afternoon, in a picturesque field three Mazoku spilled their blood promising to keep the inevitable death of the fourth secret. Three months later it was discovered that the attacker had been working alone and that the other humans had banished him due to his insistence that another war was needed. Another two months passed before Ulrike made the announcement that Shinou had chosen a new Maou. And a full eight months after the incident an angry double black boy proposed to Wolfram, turning his life upside-down.

-Flashback End-

Casting her gaze downward Gisela began to mourn her friend a second time as he stood to leave. As much as she wanted to beat some sense into the Royal Couple she knew they were both making the choices they thought to be the best. Of course that didn’t mean that she couldn’t suggest that the Maou’s Maryoku should be highly effective in some of Lady Anissina’s inventions. A shiver ran down Wolfram’s spine as he sensed an evil intent rolling off of Gisela. He shouted a quick good bye over his shoulder and hurried his steps as he went to change into fresh clothes before his next visit. After all one didn’t go to meet the Great Sage in yesterday’s uniform and a paint covered smock.

--

AN: Hope the annoyingly long flashback didn’t put anyone off. Sorry about any non-canon historical elements I made up that contradict things stated in the show, if it really bothers you just pretend its a slightly alternate reality. Oh if you are interested, the term I used for the poison is a German word that means “stone dead”. It seemed ironic and appropriate.