Corpse March

Chapter 9

“My last name’s Tsubame. As in, Tsumugi Tsubame.”

Tsubame… why is that name so familiar? Then it hits her, like the meteor hit the dinosaurs. 

“You’re shitting me.”

“She was my mother, yes.”

“Holy shit.”

Tsubame… as in, Hoshi Tsubame, the god-queen? So does that mean she just married a princess or Jesus? Both? Either way, that’s a hell of a score. Holy shit indeed. That’s some bona fide fairytale stuff right there. A girl is accidentally married to someone else but that someone else turns out to be a princess. This is beyond luck, this has to be fate or something. 

“Should I like, bow?”

“No, no, that won’t be necessary.”

Tsumugi giggles a little bit. Haru must be even shallower than she herself thought because her heart is fluttering to the beat of her laugh. Suddenly, she feels like the luckiest girl on Earth. 

“So, does that make me a princess?”

“What?”

“You know, a princess, like you?”

“Oh no, I’m not a princess.”

“But your mother’s the god-queen?”

“Oh we’re not a Monarchy.”

“But… she’s called the God-Queen?”

“Well, it is just a title, really. In truth we’re closer to a student council, so something of a Meritocratic Parliamentary Government.”

“Slow down. I get how a student council works but what was any of that other stuff?”

“A parliamentary government is a system of government with power decentralized in a cabinet composed of members of the legislature who are individually and collectively responsible for the legislature”

“What?”

“Technically, there’s a whole senatorial process but let’s not get into that right now. All that you need to know is that we’re a student council, but for an entire city.”

“Well, I think I get it. So… are you included in that student council?”

“Of course.”

“I meant like, since you said that Muse is just an honorary title and all, I’m just wondering if you have any actual political power.”

“Technically not, my position is almost entirely religious, what with being the daughter of a goddess and what not. But, ahhh…”

She has a half-pained, half-mischievous smile on her face.

“I think that Kagami forgot that religious power is easily converted into political power even with an excuse as flimsy as ‘Muse of the Student Council’.”

“Sounds like a pleasant surprise.”

“Not quite so much for me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, in brief, there was a power vacuum after my mom died. The two people most likely to assume the seat of President were either Kagami, the vice president, or Gleam, the secretary. Technically, it should automatically be the vice president, but Gleam is powerful. She’s been using her influence to delay Kagami’s claim to power for two years now. Recently, she’s even grown bold enough to contest it for herself. In short, because I sided with Kagami, I’m essentially picking a fight with Gleam. And because of my political importance, I have this big target painted on my back that Kagami’s doing nothing to alleviate.”

“Shiiiit. That sounds rough.”

Tsumugi shrugs. 

“It’s just how the game is played. There’s a board and you move pieces around while being moved around yourself. Whether you realize it or not. Unfortunately for me, Kagami hasn’t realized it yet.”

“And the other members of the student council?”

“We’re all placing our bets. Some of us are betting to win. Everyone else is betting to survive. With all the pressure Gleam’s putting on us, it’s nigh impossible to stay neutral.”

“So, what’ll you do now?”

“I dunno. Sit and wait, I guess.”

Tsumugi falls over onto her bedroll with a ‘pomf’. 

“If I had the means to, though, I wouldn’t mind becoming Student Council President myself.”

“Hmmm, you think you could do it?”

“It’d take a miracle… but maybe. Maybe.”

“I guess we’ll see.”

“Yeah. I guess we will.”

“By the way, would you mind if I asked you a question, Haru?”

“Shoot.”

“You like Lady Kentomi, don’t you?”

“Hell yeah I do.”

Tsumugi nods and shoots her a thumbs up. 

“Niceeeee.”

That’s a weird thing to hear from your own wife but whatever. Tsumugi crawls up next to Haru, hunger in her eyes. 

“Why?”

“Um… she’s pretty cool.”

“Uh-huh.”

“She’s… strong.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And… uhhh… she’s strong? I guess?”

“That’s it?”

“I dunno, what were you expecting?”

“Usually, there’s an intense story involving how a Papilio got left behind and Kagami bravely rescued them and then a fairytale shotgun marriage happens.”

That last part is familiar.

“The Papilio? What do you mean by ‘them’?”

“Papilio are people. Pretty much everyone here except for you and me are Papilio. I thought you knew this already? What with being a former Monarch and all.”

“First off, I’m a mercenary. I was only hired by the Monarchs, I was never actually one of them. Second off, don’t the Monarchs make the Papilio? Why would they make people?”

“Well, technically they only really want their brains. Think of the Monarch Campus as a giant computer. The more Papilio they have, the more processors they have, the more data they can process at once, which is all the better for their research.”

“I don’t even know where to start with that one.”

Haru runs her hand through her hair. All this time. All those people. Right under her nose and she didn’t notice. Not once? A snowstorm travels up and down her spine. 

“If it’s any consolation, Papilio are functionally non-sentient within their growing chambers. They can’t feel pain or demonstrate any higher brain function other than receiving and processing information. Even their genetics are taken from other people before being scrambled and tossed into clone vats. That’s why all Papilio are female.”

“Still, it sounds like an existence that’s worse than death.”

“Many would agree, the Monarchs would not. But whether it’s worth the crusades that Takakumo’s been launching is another story entirely.”

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s not worth it. The more we ignore the problems in the system now, the worse the problems are going to get.”

Haru lets out a gargantuan yawn. Her magic makes sure she doesn’t get tired, but it doesn’t do anything about sleepiness. 

“Alright. I think that’s gonna be it for me. Goodnight, Tsumugi.”

“Goodnight, honey.”

“Eh?”

“We’re married now, right? We might as well start acting like it.”

“O-oh right. I forgot about that.”

She clumsily reaches over to the light hanging in the center of the tent and turns it off. 

“Goodnight… uh, honey.”

The words stumble out of her mouth at the consistency of… well… honey. She hears Tsumugi’s giggle in the dark. It’s sweet on the ears, like a lullaby. In her state, it almost feels like it wraps around her brain and brings her head down onto her soft pillow. For a moment, it feels like she could just slip into sleep. Then, she hears it. Something that makes her shoot up in her bed. A sound like her eardrums being blown away rings out. A sound more powerful than thunder. A gunshot. 

“What…”

Tsumugi sits up but Haru’s already standing. It’s like her brain flipped over. On one side is the gazelle that grazes on the grass, on the other is the gazelle that hears the lion’s purr. Immediately, she starts to fear the worst. 

“Wait here.”

“Haru, wait!”