fanfic; his kingdom

[acperience]

Title: His Kingdom
Series: The Legend of the Legendary Heroes / Persona 3
Character(s): Minato, Tiir.
Warnings: ... Mentions of death and blood?
Summary: There are few things more beautiful than second chances. Minato knows this very well.
Dedication: To kalisona.



—

His Kingdom

—

Minato knows that while Tiir’s opinion of humans has improved, Tiir hasn’t quite extended that to the people of his own world. Minato isn’t surprised, after what he’s seen. Tiir had warned him beforehand what things were like, and that even telling him couldn’t carry the gravity of it—Minato had seen that for himself when he’d been with Tiir when they found a God’s Eyes bearer.

(It wasn’t the first time Minato’s seen him kill, and he doubts that it will be the last.)

This is why, he imagines, that they’re apparently holding a captive here in their home—or at least the closes thing they have to one. Minato doesn’t know much about him, as Tiir forbids him from getting near him, other than that he’s the leader of the country they were in just recently and that Tiir doesn’t like him very much, even more so than usual.

When Minato asks why he’s here, Tiir tells him that it’s to fulfill Ene’s wish. From what Minato has seen with the two of them, Tiir would move mountains for Ene’s sake, and so while he doesn’t understand the situation, he realizes why Tiir is doing this, even if he can’t approve of his methods.

In the end, it seems that there’s still a wall around Tiir’s heart that he can’t bring down just yet.

—

“He should be arriving soon,” Tiir suddenly says. Minato looks at him, tilting his head to one side.

“Who?”

Tiir smiles—a smile that Minato has come to recognize. A sharp sort of happiness for Tiir, tinged by his resentment towards the world.

“Our king,” Tiir simply says.

—

Minato knows something is wrong when, suddenly, his body can’t move. Not for a lack of trying, as he struggles, but is barely able to move an inch. A glance around the room indicates that he’s not the only one, as he’s met with the confused faces of the children.

Tiir left a short while ago—to greet the “king” he spoke of. Minato still doesn’t quite know who that is, but Tiir told him to stay inside, and so he complied, as it didn’t seem like anything dangerous would be happening.

Now, a sense of dread settles over him.

Still, he manages a smile when one of the children calls out to him, fear evident in her voice.

“It’s all right,” he says. There’s no need for her to worry when they can’t do anything about it.

That said, Minato can’t help but do so himself, as he thinks of Tiir. Not for the first time, he wishes that Tiir told him more about what’s going on, so as to help him evaluate the situation. The fact that this is happening at the same time of the arrival of the “king” can’t be mere coincidence, he doesn’t think, but that’s all he can deduce. He doesn’t know who this king, why Ene wished to meet with him—anything.

He begins to regret not having asked Tiir and makes a note to do so as soon as he gets the chance.

In the meantime—

Please be safe.

—

The restraint disappears as suddenly as it appeared. As soon as it does, Minato moves.

Telling the children to stay put, he leaves the room and heads to the entrance. Before he reaches it, however, he hears voices at his destination—unfamiliar ones. Pausing by the door, open a crack, he listens to them, muted through the barrier between them.

Certainly, unfamiliar voices aren’t cause for concern, as Minato can hardly claim to know each and every one of the God’s Eyes bearers here. However, the topic of their conversation—even if Minato can’t quite follow—carries a weight that suggests there’s more to it than that. Minato peers through the crack, his suspicions confirmed.

He sees the human they captured (as sad as the thought makes him), speaking to two others that Minato doesn’t recognize. One of them is a man with dark hair, which would be innocuous enough, were it not for the blond-haired man slung over his shoulder. With him is a woman with similar golden hair—a sure sign that she’s not one of the God’s Eyes bearers.

Before Minato can wonder any further as to who they are, however, a familiar figure appears from stairs leading to the basement. Minato’s eyes widen, as he’s about to exit the room and go to his side, but when Tiir begins to speak to the other dark-haired man in a dark tone, Minato stops himself. Overhearing mentions of Gastark, he knows this isn’t a conversation that Tiir would want him to interrupt.

Still, the sight of Tiir is cause for worry. He’d been fine the last time Minato saw him, and now, he’s covered in blood, with the tears in his clothing making it clear that at least some of it is likely his own. And though Minato can’t see clearly from where he is, Tiir looks exhausted—more than Minato’s ever seen him. It only serves to elevate his fears, as he thinks of everything that could’ve happened, with this only affirming that they must have been attacked. In spite of that, though, Minato knows that an attack alone couldn’t bring Tiir to this state, having seen him after similar events. There’s a tiredness in his stance that goes beyond the fatigue of battle and grief. Minato can only assume the worst: something happened to Ene.

However, that assumption conflicts with what else he sees—a girl by Tiir’s side. Despite her black hair and eyes (and Minato thought her eyes couldn’t handle sunlight?), he recognizes her quickly. It’s a relief to see Ene alive and seemingly, even though the blood on her dress is less than reassuring—but her appearance only raises more questions.

—What has happened while he remained unaware?

—

When the others leave, Minato steps out of the room. Tiir looks at him with surprise, before his expression softens into a smile. Now that Minato’s in the same room as him, he can see the redness in Tiir’s eyes, as if he were crying.

(Minato has never seen Tiir cry.)

“Ah, Minato…” His voice is hoarse. Minato stares, only moving his gaze from Tiir for a moment when he looks at Ene, who watches him blankly with eyes that can undoubtedly see (but how?).

“What’s going on?” he asks. Tiir glances away, as if trying to figure out how to reply, before returning his attention to him.

“We’ll be moving again,” Tiir tells him. “I’m sorry. We’ll be going back to Sphelliyet.”

Minato remembers that as the country they were at before, briefly. Tiir pauses, before smiling again, brighter than before.

“This time, though… Hopefully, it’ll be for good.”

It’s not the answer to the question Minato was really asking, and he has the feeling that Tiir knows. Still, when he looks at the blood on Tiir, his torn clothing, the exhaustion written all over his face, and the redness in his eyes (Tiir was crying, and he wasn’t there for him—), he can’t bring himself to ask.

He wants to know. He needs to know, so that he can help Tiir.

But when he sees Tiir like this, he can’t. Even after anything, even though Minato knows that Tiir is in some ways weaker than he pretends to be—Tiir has always been a fortress, holding himself together, if only for the sake of the people around him. Right now, though, no one would believe that.

Right now, past Tiir’s smile and the genuine happiness in it, he looks as if he’s about to break.

—

He doesn’t see much of Tiir after that. Tiir clings by Ene’s side throughout the entire trip, like he were afraid that she would disappear if he were to leave her, and so in his place, Minato does his best to look after the children. Even once they arrive at the People’s Republic of Sphelliyet, Minato sees no more of Tiir than he did before. If anything, he sees less, as Tiir is integrated into the ranks of the government and becomes even busier with his new duties.

Something here is changing for the better, Minato realizes, if these people are accepted in this country—and he now sees what Tiir meant by “for good”. They, who have never had a home before, may finally have one here. He’s happy for them—truly, beyond happy—even though he’s still not quite sure of everything going on.

He asks one of the older God’s Eyes bearers, as the animosity on their part has been fading away with time and with Tiir’s apparent new acceptance. The other boy looks uncomfortable, shifting his weight between his feet, before at last he speaks.

“That’s… something you should ask Tiir about.”

Minato nods and thanks him for this time; never mind that he hasn’t been able to see Tiir at all these past few days. He’ll wait for as long as he needs to—for as long as Tiir needs him to.

—

He finally gets to see Tiir again when there’s a break in negotiations. Again, Minato doesn’t know much about what’s going on, other than that the world is changing. The other God’s Eyes bearers don’t know any more than him—apparently, Tiir has been too occupied for any of them—and no one else in this country seems inclined to inform them.

One of the God’s Eyes bearers informs him of what he’s heard—mentions of killing the gods. His expression makes it clear that he thinks the idea is incredulous, to which Minato says nothing other than thanking him for the information. To himself, though, he smiles in reminiscence, thinking of his own experiences.

Even if it’s a task that the rest of the world would deem impossible, if that’s what Tiir intends to do, then Minato will follow him.

(He knows a few things about accomplishing the impossible, after all.)

—Though it’s hard to say exactly what Tiir intends when Minato hasn’t seen him for so long. He manages to catch him by chance, knocking on the door of the room that Tiir and Ene share, as Ene no longer seems bound to windowless rooms where no sunlight reaches.

“Yes?”

“It’s me, Tiir-san,” Minato says, before pausing. “… May I come in?”

“Go ahead.”

Ene is in the room with Tiir, which doesn’t surprise Minato at all. Upon his entrance, however, she quietly excuses herself to Tiir, before leaving the room. It’s in moments like these that Minato knows something is wrong, for he has seen Ene interact with Tiir before, even if not frequently. He has seen a quiet bond between them—the sort that, he supposes, comes from being the other’s most important person. As kind as Tiir is to all his friends, Minato can see a sort of love in the way he treats Ene that goes above the affection he shows everyone else. And though Minato has seen Ene speak with very few outside of Tiir, he knows that the feeling must be mutual.

Ene is his leader, best friend, protectorate, family—Minato knows that she means the world to him, even if Tiir has never said so out loud.

And even now, Minato can see it in Tiir’s eyes as he looks at her, watching as she leaves. However, the look Ene gave—Minato can’t entirely identify it, but before, despite the blindness in her eyes, she always looked at Tiir as if she were truly seeing him.

This time, whatever she saw with her newfound sight—it wasn’t the one who’d been by her side for all these years.

“I think she’s perhaps getting a bit weary of my presence,” Tiir says, smiling wryly after Ene leaves. Minato doesn’t return his smile, instead looking at him with concern.

“… Maybe she’s not used to being with you all the time,” he says carefully, thinking of how Ene was confined to her room before. Tiir hardly had the luxury of being able to confine himself with her.

At that, Tiir shrugs.

“It seems that way,” he replies, his tone suggesting that he and Minato are talking about entirely different matters despite the supposed agreement.

And again, Minato needs to know. He needs to know what’s going on, so he can help him. Tiir, whom he considers family, whom he formed an unbreakable bond with, whom he’s glad to spend his second life with—

“Tiir-san,” he begins. “… Is she all right?”

Tiir blinks, staring at him for a few moments, before smiling tiredly.

“Nothing gets by you, does it?”

“I’m sorry if it bothers you.”

Tiir shakes his head. “No, it’s all right. And to answer your question, she’s fine. Perhaps she could be better, but compared to what could have happened…”

His voice trails off as he looks away, clearly recalling something. Minato takes that as good of a time as any to speak.

“What could have happened?” he echoes. Tiir lets out a light sigh, before he looks at Minato.

“Do you remember the other day, just before we came here?” he asks. Though his wording is a bit vague, Minato knows which day he’s referring to and nods.

(The arrival of their “king”, Ene’s change, and the redness around Tiir’s eyes—)

“Yes,” he replies. Tiir’s eyes shift again, staring at a point beyond Minato, as he appears lost in thought.

“As you’ve likely surmised, we were attacked,” he says, frowning. There’s a pause, as he takes in a breath, before, quietly—

“Ene was killed. I was too late for her.”

He smiles sadly—the kind of smile that Minato wishes Tiir didn’t have to have. Before he can say anything, however, Tiir continues. “As you’ve seen for yourself, though, she’s very much alive now. Lieral saved her. He sacrificed his life in order to bring her back.”

“Ah…” Minato had wondered what had happened to the man, having never seen him again after their first meeting. He thought that perhaps the alliance ended and thus he left, but it seems that wasn’t the case.

Briefly, Minato closes in his eyes in silence, as mourning for him. Though he can’t claim to have known him very well at all—or anything beyond his name, for that matter—that doesn’t change the gravity of his death.

And to die saving a life—

“I owe him,” Tiir says, snapping Minato out of his thoughts. “Though he may have been an infuriating human… Really, I owe him my life.”

And he looks at Minato, and at that, Minato smiles, for there’s no resentment in Tiir’s eyes this time. Minato smiles, because as he thinks of the time he spent with Tiir in Vatheon, he’s glad—so glad that Tiir has been able to move on.

After all, for Minato, there are few things more satisfying in life—even after death—than seeing others change for the better. And though Tiir seems more fragile than he ever did when Minato first met him, Minato knows what it means. Finally, the wall has come down, and something in Tiir has been freed.

And while this may not have been the world Minato died to protect, it’s moments like these that make it all so worth it.

To see Tiir, at last, let go of everything that’s been holding him back.

To see someone struggle on and move past the darkness—

Because even this world, as full of hatred as it is, is beautiful in its own way. It’s the world where Tiir was born, after all. And so, it allowed Minato to meet him—and to live again, when his life should have ended. Despite the atrocities he’s seen people commit, there’s no other place he’d rather be, than here with Tiir—than in this place where, again, he has the chance to see everything that makes life worth living.

(Life is always worth living.)

“… I owe him as well,” Minato finally says, inciting a surprised look from Tiir. “For what he did for Ene-san and you.”

For Tiir’s happiness is Minato’s own, and right now, nothing makes Minato happier than finally seeing Tiir be at peace.

At that, Tiir smiles faintly. “Indeed…”

Again, he looks at a place beyond Minato, as he continues. “She’s an ordinary human now. She no longer possesses her Torch Curse.”

—Ah.

Minato can take a guess as to what might’ve helped to bring down that wall, now.

“Well, it may be for the best,” Tiir says quietly, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I always did have to tell her not to overwork herself, and with this… I don’t have to worry about that anymore. She’s finally free from all her burdens now. Perhaps this is the kindest thing that could have been done for her.”

“… Even though it means that she’s human now?”

All things considered, though, the question might as well be rhetorical. And, sure enough—

“Of course,” Tiir replies, smiling, albeit while looking as if he might start crying at any moment. “She means everything to me. I never would have gotten this far without her.”

At that, all Minato can think is that a part of Tiir looks so sad, and even though he knows from experience that Tiir perhaps doesn’t fully appreciate being comforted, his first impulse is to hug him. After all, just because Tiir may not want the reassurance doesn’t mean that he may not need it. Even besides that, if he can give Tiir any sort of comfort, then he will.

Before Minato can act on any of his thoughts, though, Tiir continues.

“She’s my family, after all. I’d much rather have her as a human and be a stranger to her for the rest of her life than have her dead.”

And again, before Minato can do or say anything—a stranger to her?—there’s a flash of movement, and then Tiir’s arms are wrapped around him, holding him in a tight embrace. Minato tilts his head.

“Tiir-san?”

Still, he doesn’t hesitate to return the hug. Even if he hadn’t been considering it before, he doesn’t miss the way Tiir’s fingers dig into his back ever-so-slightly, or the way Tiir’s body is trembling against his, as if holding back tears. He’d tell Tiir that he can cry if he wishes, but he knows that it wouldn’t be appreciated. Even this alone—this sort of ‘weakness’, this way of acting that Minato knows Tiir tries so hard not to do—is enough.

Tiir’s silent for a while, perhaps thinking of the idea that he might’ve lost Ene for good, perhaps thinking of whatever he hasn’t told Minato—Minato doesn’t know. But he waits, if that’s all he can do for Tiir right now. He waits, because he knows that Tiir needs it.

Then, finally, Tiir speaks again.

“… You two are so much alike,” he says, his voice choked up as he holds Minato more tightly. “I’ve thought so for a long time now. Really, both of you…”

He lets out a light laugh, his grip loosening somewhat. Minato can almost see the smile on his face, as he continues.

“I don’t know how I manage to find such amazing people like you two. Still, thank you—for letting someone like me be by your side.”

The feeling’s entirely mutual, Minato thinks. He knows that it can’t have been easy for Tiir to trust him—to take that leap of faith and open his heart, even a bit, to a human. More than that, he trusts Minato with his friends, his family (and he even thinks of Minato as such, which Minato knows to be an honour).

And that change alone—to go from hating to caring—is sign of amazing strength. As far as Minato’s concerned, he’s no more amazing than Tiir, even if Tiir doesn’t think so.

He’s just as fortunate to be by Tiir’s side.

Tiir laughs faintly again—a quiet, but happy laugh—before pulling away from Minato. At this proximity, Minato can see the cross design carved in Tiir’s eyes—eyes that have caused Tiir so much misery and yet have made him into he is today. Those eyes look into Minato’s own, as Tiir speaks, smiling wryly.

“… Honestly, you’re both worth reconsidering a lifetime’s worth of beliefs for. More than worth it.”

Minato smiles back. “As are you.”

Tiir says nothing at that, but his smile doesn’t fade, as he stares at Minato for another few moments. Then, his smile dims a notch, as his expression becomes serious.

“If you’ll have it, this world can be your home,” Tiir says, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I’ll change it. I’ll change it into a world in which even someone like you, who wasn’t born here and has no ties to this land, can be happy to live. I’ll kill any number of gods if I have to. If that’s what it takes to protect you all, I’ll do it.”

And Minato knows—he knows that Tiir has always had his doubts about him being here. He knows that Tiir is sorry for bringing him into danger and into the lives that they, as the persecuted, lead. That he has to be scorned alongside them, even as a human.

Minato closes his eyes.

He knows that Tiir is sorry for many things, but—

“This place has been my home for a long time now, Tiir-san,” he says, opening his eyes and smiling softly.

“Wherever you are is where I belong now. And if that’s what you intend to do, then know…”

(And he really, truly is so glad to be living this second life—)

“Know that I’ll always be there with you.”