WD-ST-1: Pine Lillies

WD-ST-1 Pine Lillies	A Walk in the Dust: Walk Alone Previous WD-4 Next WD-5 (Story)
No patch of soil pays any heed to the blossoming of a few clusters of flowers– The land does not care, for the land encompasses all things.

Characters

Kal'tsit Grand Duke Vanya Lillia Witte Ursus Officer

Backgrounds

1 2 3 4

“

Despite the then Minister of Finance Witte's unexpected visit, Kal'tsit cannot let this precious opportunity slip by. After injecting the Grand Duke with her drug, Kal'tsit accompanies the wrongdoer through his final moments.

”

17 Years Ago 2:44 P.M. \ Clear Central Ursus, Pine Valley Retreat exterior
<Background 1>
Hfff–huff– Hfff– Huff– Hff.
<Background 2>
Witte	Ah, old friend, are you feeling better now? No, no, you lie down, I'm just here to see you, I'll be leaving soon after. A burdenbeast's work is never done, and the one who saddled me was myself, to boot. What? No, of course. To you, I'm still the same young lad you know, not the Minister of Finance. What's the point in fiddling with ranks? We're all here giving our strength to Ursus's vast land, striving for the truly honorable future Our Majesty envisions. We're all His Majesty's people. The few who've forgotten it, still living in the violent past, will sooner or later become orphans of archaic convention. Sorry, it seems government business has built up some steam in me. Don't worry, I can see how my colleagues and fellow strivers are strong in spirit, and I can see how the rot in the rotten eats away at themselves. We will be victorious. Those loudmouth nobles in the Army... they and those woodworms will very soon be dust at His Majesty's feet, and we will sweep them out of His way. That's right. –The State Council is changing. We'll take everything Ursus, everything of His Majesty's back from those unthinking, undoing aristocrats' hands. We'll tear the olden days to shreds. Savage them. Profane them. We must open a new way for Ursus, old friend–I will do it. We all will do it. Even if it takes our whole lives. Ursus needs change.
<Background 3>
Kal'tsit	Today?
Lillia	The original plan was next week... but today's the best chance. I just heard the head caretaker say. The Minister of Finance's arrival is clearly intended to rattle that spineless coward. Though the Minister was unwilling to meet him, he was at least willing to move himself.
Kal'tsit	He's frightened. And fear will make him show openings.
Lillia	His guards might not have been able to arrange for this sudden meeting in time, but he had no choice except show himself before us, as hastily as possible... With another Ursus VIP visiting, opting to assassinate the Grand Duke is an extremely risky idea, but this place has never been empty of major players, and I can count the number of times the Grand Duke left his area alone on one hand.
Kal'tsit	We're still not certain enough.
Lillia	I'm still not certain enough. But I trust you are. I've wanted to believe, even, that you could always do it.
Kal'tsit	......
Lillia	Tell me, do you still have any misgivings? I'll settle them for you, even if I–
Kal'tsit	Lillia. My greatest misgiving... is whether you'll live well, as I hope for you to. No matter how you'll regard what I say next, I still must recognize: in Chernobog, all those youngest, richly idealistic, most ardent scientists... all gave their lives. I am not willing to see them die. Lillia, I regard you in the same way right now.
Lillia	...... I can't do that, Kal'tsit.
Kal'tsit	After this is over, I'll make for Siracusa, then on to Victoria. If you come with me... and don't continue with your plans in Chernobog, then you don't have to die.
Lillia	I can't bear traitors stamping footprints on my husband's dried blood, not for even one second.
Kal'tsit	You're very selfish.
Lillia	I am. So don't you forget my most selfish request of all... Look after my daughter, and if she's willing, teach her medicine. You can surely live on, Kal'tsit.
<Background 2>
Witte	Old friend. Winter this year is very cold, but I trust spring will be warm as it ever was. I still remember the day we first met was at the beginning of spring. Attending that speech so brimming with passion, you didn't cheer, nor did you bellow. We noticed each other when our eyes met, and of course others too. No one felt any pride in the successful invasion, those cheering and revering the former Emperor's glory, unable to even see the barren land they stood on, having allowed no one else to survive.
Witte, is spring coming?
Witte	I do not know, old friend. Perhaps. Spring this year may come slightly early, but my Catastrophe Messenger tells me, following a fierce Catastrophe up north, it may be cooler after some days. Perhaps we may even return to winter.
None of us like winter, do we?
Witte	I don't like it either, old mate. But you did warn me, perhaps I should give up the bottle... I shouldn't be weathering winter with drink. All it does is numb. Drunkenness might get me frostbitten. But winter won't last too long. Just the fallout of a calamity.
<Background 3>
Lillia	This is...
Kal'tsit	An eternal rest. The most secure method, completely effective, and not so fast-acting it gives us nowhere to run. Have you fully prepared our retreat?
Lillia	From the first day we arrived, I'd already finished preparing everything.
Kal'tsit	Perhaps we won't have much time.
Lillia	I understand that, but if we just do it like we practiced, we should have plenty of...
Kal'tsit	No. We've taken this sanatorium as far too simple a place. Your plan doesn't need to change. Leave everything afterwards for me to handle.
Lillia	What did you find out?
Kal'tsit	... Mon3tr discovered traces of the enemy while hibernating. Have you heard of the Grand Duke having dealings with other powers of Ursus, or not?
Lillia	No, he's been content here all this time.
Kal'tsit	......
Lillia	Mon3tr... is that that pet of yours? What did it see? Some Ursus folk legend?
Kal'tsit	I cannot realistically tell you the facts. That would only shrink our chances of survival to the minimum.
Lillia	Mm... Ursus has many, many means...
Kal'tsit	Fear becomes a lure. Investigating this will only serve to affect your judgment. Trust me.
Lillia	Hm.
Kal'tsit	Alright. It's about time now. See the blonde Feline carrying a bag–he's the Grand Duke's private doctor.
Lillia	I know.
<Background 2>
Witte	What can a Grand Duke accomplish? Look at these fellows stuck in their old ways... Of course, the moment that half-blinded governor knelt in front of His Majesty, he ceased to be any more of a threat. He's very smart, choosing when it suited to save his own skin. Nothing like some people... putting up last stands for their own selfish gains, even squandering what little live power Ursus had left to deal with the aftermath of the rebellions. It grieves me so... Though I'm no military leader, whenever I see our motherland's production at a standstill, the economy in decline, I lament deep and deeper.
Did His Majesty pardon these opportunists? They'd put their own interest above His Majesty's and Ursus's with just one inch of slack, in one heartbeat.
Witte	Don't condemn His Majesty's benevolence. Compared to putting up with a few shrewd but provisionally loyal nobles, what we truly cannot bear is continuing our endless internal friction. We must think of ways to pull out the weeds and pests. We must sow the seeds. We must, when spring comes again, see the new buds. For this I've strived... please pardon my language; I very rarely say such things, but I swear upon His Majesty, I do feel pride in my own present status. Old friend, be reassured. Those sacrificed cannot complete their undertaking. All those who survived will keep trying, and trying. His Majesty will bring a new future to Ursus. Even the most stubborn nobles, and those twisted deities, and those monsters planted in the darkest corners of our motherland, they all must fear–they all must fear our Emperor. My duty is simply to ensure this.
<Background 3>
[Kal'tsit walks by.]
Kal'tsit	......
Ursus Officer	Halt. Did the head caretaker not tell you? Grand Duke Vanya has requisitioned this place, and no one is to come near.
Lillia	I'm the doctor on shift today. I'm the Grand Duke's medical consultant, by all rights. This is my work permit.
Ursus Officer	You're new here?
Lillia	Yes.
Ursus Officer	Grand Duke Vanya's doctor on duty is his private doctor. It's an unwritten rule. Lucky you, you pretty much get a vacation today. Seeing as it's your first time, I won't blame you. But wander around this corridor again, and your death will not be pretty. Now, get out. Find somewhere to spend your vacation while you have it.
[The officer contacts someone through radio.]
Ursus Officer	It's me. Not much. The doctor on shift at the retreat. I'll get them out of here... What...? The quack's vanished? But it'd be dangerous to... erm... the Minister of Finance is here, I know...
[The officer ends the call.]
Ursus Officer	You two, halt.
Lillia	Yes, we're listening to you. Can I ask if something's the matter?
Ursus Officer	Come with me.
[The officer takes Kal'tsit and Lillia elsewhere.]
<Background fades out and in>
Ursus Officer	Listen. No matter what you find, it's because of the Grand Duke's same old problems. Don't make a fuss over nothing. Be dependable. Take care of him properly. Get out quickly after the sun's down, and don't disturb his peace. Treat him properly, and you'll be rewarded. Amply. Enough for... poor people like you to live happily for a long time.
Lillia	Thank you kindly. We're honored to have this chance... Kal'tsit, where's your thanks?
Kal'tsit	Ah... right. Thank you kindly, good sir.
Ursus Officer	Hmph, country people. Don't mess this up.
Lillia	We'll pay full attention.
Ursus Officer	...... Hold it. It's always been one person going in alone. We can't make an exception this time, or the Grand Duke will turn his rage on us. Let this servant go in.
Lillia	–But, sir, I'm the doctor here–
Ursus Officer	We prepare the medicine the Grand Duke takes. You just stay here and wait, and if anything happens, go in then.
Lillia	I don't understand–
Ursus Officer	I am saying to wait here for three hours, on standby. And then, you. You cannot be in there for more than ten minutes. If you take too long, no matter why, you will not leave alive. Search, and then let this servant go in first.
Kal'tsit	As you command.
<Background 4>
[Kal'tsit enters the terrace where Grand Duke Vanya is having some fresh air.]
Kal'tsit	... Grand Duke.
With his back to the light sits an old man–lies an old man. He does not move, his breathing tranquil, gazing into the far distance.
Grand Duke Vanya	Is it the doctor?
Kal'tsit	No, I am only a servant.
Grand Duke Vanya	Alright... come, come closer.
Kal'tsit	As you command.
[Kal'tsit sits beside the Grand Duke.]
Grand Duke Vanya	Are you Ursus?
Kal'tsit	No.
Grand Duke Vanya	Lower your head. Let me feel your face.
Kal'tsit	As you command.
Grand Duke Vanya	Ah... Vulpo, or maybe Feline? An adorable race.
Kal'tsit	Are... Are your eyes unsighted?
Grand Duke Vanya	Yes. A problem from last month. I'm due to die. Suppose it today, suppose it tomorrow. So you've come in vain, child.
Kal'tsit	......
Grand Duke Vanya	They won't allow the doctor in–they're murdering me.
Kal'tsit	Won't you protest? You are a Grand Duke.
Grand Duke Vanya	Exactly why. I am powerless to resist Ursus. I have since accepted that. How is the weather today? I can feel the sunshine, turning warm now.
Kal'tsit	Not a cloud in sight, Grand Duke.
Grand Duke Vanya	Ah... not a cloud in sight. It's been long. Since the last day like this.
Kal'tsit	Do you feel despair?
Grand Duke Vanya	Despair...? Despair is but a passer-by of the start. Our endless lives are always suffused with an emotion. It neither induces despair, nor makes your life bottomless joy. We are all living in compromise. Some would call it apathy, and some would say, I am simply reaping what I sowed. Yes. The weather is warming. That gust of wind just now failed to chill me to the bone. Who sent you, young lady?
Kal'tsit	You've already surmised.
Grand Duke Vanya	And you are not astonished? Say, I thought a sum failure like myself would have been scapegoated in the limelight, forever looked down on by the young.
Kal'tsit	I have never looked down on a single person, let alone you, a Grand Duke of Ursus.
Grand Duke Vanya	Of course you wouldn't tell me honestly... as to be expected. Let me take a guess... The Minister of Finance? No, no-no-no... he and my affairs are entirely unrelated. He does not possess this kind of finesse to interfere in others' stations. If it were his idea... I would rather it his idea. Well, then, was it some woodworm in the Army? Those old, timid, cowardly bastards... not them, not them either, they have simpler ways... Let me guess, young one, who sent you here... ...... Are you still there, young one?
Kal'tsit	I am.
Grand Duke Vanya	Was it His Majesty's idea? His Majesty wants an... arrogant fool like me to pay the price for his own stupid actions? Oh, I knew that evening was not but a nightmare... Do you know how it feels to be blind in both eyes? From that dark view I had long been used to, I felt some more warped thing, squirming... the otherly sensation of fear.
Kal'tsit	You mean the fear that cannot even be concealed by blindness.
<Background black>
[Vanya recalls the image of an Emperor's Blade in his mind.]
Grand Duke Vanya	That was the Royal Guard's will, young one. That evening, the Emperor's Blade was only a step away from my throat.
<Background 2>
Witte	What? A paring knife? Let me do it. The journey will be very tight, but if I don't even have the time to peel an apple for my friend, I can't help but be disillusioned.
How could I let the Minister of Finance do some odd chore like this.
Witte	Are you mocking me?
Perhaps a Minister of Finance should not hold a knife. You should focus on something else.
Witte	Don't joke with me, old friend. I'm just peeling an apple. Don't tell me you're about to rave superstitious at me? Look, how fresh the fruits here at the retreat are. These'll be good for your health, too.
No, Witte, my friend, give the knife to me. Perhaps I'm due for some exercise, so as not to rust myself away.
Witte	You're too feeble. You might cut your own hand open.
[Surely, you don't feel a staff officer of the Army of Ursus would lack the strength for even a paring knife?]
Witte	No, I don't think that. Ah, fine, old friend, have the knife. Be very careful.
[The one Witte is talking with slits his finger with the fruit knife.]
Witte	–– What are you–Doctor!–What are you doing?! Why treat yourself like this–Cutting your own finger–Doctor!
Gasp–Witte! Don't worry, this doesn't hurt like you imagine... my year-round pains have already accustomed me... don't hurry off, now, listen to me first. Look, Witte, on my right hand, the racket of artillery gunfire shook off some fingers... Kazimierz people lopped my right thumb off, and a Higashi assassin made off with half my pointer. I've always felt my right hand was undersold, Witte, taken simply for a knife hand, it fell to such treatment. Now, I have cut off my left-hand pointer. Here, both my hands are no longer sound. Very fair.
Witte	What is all this for...!
Tell me, Witte, from Ursus's wars, these glorious scars I once regarded as an honor all my life, do they truly have any glory to speak of? No, I don't need you to answer me. It's a trifling thing, but see, my fresh wound, blood dripping, this was done by my own will. It awakens me from my grave affliction, allows me to converse with you again. Witte, you will return to Deity Grypherburg, correct? You will sooner or later return, back to that grand city. Take a piece of my form, my constitution with you. My body was scattered about in campaigns, subjected to ruin, but only this piece of flesh was separated by my own will. I have no children, but this pointer finger–jeer at my foolishness, go on–this pointer finger is the only flesh I have birthed. Take it to Deity Grypherburg, bury it in your garden, or in a flower pot by the street. Let me live in the earth of Deity Grypherburg. Oh, let my flesh become one with Ursus... take me to Deity Grypherburg, to the heart of what all our generations have defended, to the heart of Ursus! –Witte!
<Background 3>
[Several security personnel rushes past Lillia and the officer.]
Ursus Officer	......
Lillia	......
Ursus Officer	What's with all the people running around today... ugh, a flock of idiots who don't know the rules. Stay here and don't move. I'm taking a look.
Lillia	Alright, sir.
[The officer heads out to see what happened...]
Lillia	(I don't know what Kal'tsit's doing in there...) (Ugh. We don't have much time.)
[...but returns to Lillia right after.]
Ursus Officer	Hey, you, back to Room 116.
Lillia	What? But my helper is still in–
Ursus Officer	A servant is enough either way, here. No need for a doctor. This is the Minister of Finance's request. If you upset a minister, we'll never survive it. Now leave! You want to see the gallows?!
Lillia	Yes, yes, sorry, I'm going now, right now... (Kal'tsit...! Quick!)
<Background 4>
Grand Duke Vanya	Young one, come, sit here. What's your name?
Kal'tsit	Kal'tsit.
Grand Duke Vanya	That is neither a nom de guerre, nor a nom de plume, correct? I can hear... from the manner in which you introduce yourself, I can hear, you love this name, don't you, Kal'tsit?
Kal'tsit	Hard to say. We don't have long, Grand Duke. In a short moment, your guards will come charging in here.
Grand Duke Vanya	Oh... it seems I must make space for the assassin after my own life... Hmm. My communicator should be right by my side...
Kal'tsit	Here it is.
Grand Duke Vanya	Ha. What a prudent murderer. Just when did you pilfer it? Please give it to me.
Kal'tsit	......
Grand Duke Vanya	Thank you for your trust, young one. You make such ease of it... no matter who sent you, I trust you will become one vastly capable.
[The Grand Duke calls the head of security through a radio.]
Grand Duke Vanya	Sir, this is a servant of the retreat... who hails from my homeland. I wish to chat with her further. Do not disturb us, until I give the order. Trespassers are in violation of military order. Do you understand? Good.
[The Grand Duke ends the call.]
Kal'tsit	Where is your homeland?
Grand Duke Vanya	Right on the other side of Pine Valley. Are you so willing to trust me because you have all your means well prepared? Even if they came charging in, you could still escape unscathed, couldn't you?
Kal'tsit	I will not answer that.
Grand Duke Vanya	Or you really aren't from the Royal Guard. You are neither twisted nor terrible. Yes, how could the Royal Guard leave their work to others? They are Ursus's most selfless monitors. Only those capable of being weighed on the scales, will the Royal Guard look at with value. Alright. I've lost, young one. I cannot guess at all at your oh-so-mysterious past. Why have you come?
Kal'tsit	My duty lies here.
Grand Duke Vanya	Kal'tsit, will I pass away painfully?
Kal'tsit	You won't. The drug will slowly erode your nervous system. You'll fall asleep as though entering a coma, and never wake up.
Grand Duke Vanya	To an old soul plagued by illness, this may even be considered a favor. I thank you.
Kal'tsit	......
Grand Duke Vanya	I've been meaning to ask, are you a doctor? A scientist? Do you have a shining pair of eyes? Do the odors of medicine cling to your fingers? Do– –Hold on, hold on. Did you come... come for that affair in Chernobog? Kal'tsit... Kal'tsit... the director who died in the inferno that day, was that the name?
Kal'tsit	If you truly remember every sacrifice, then perhaps I'm unable to escape the all-seeing eye of Ursus.
Grand Duke Vanya	Ah... it's you, you're the very Kal'tsit... How strange... that you hid from the Secret Police. What's more, and stole into this place without even changing your name...? How did you do it?
Kal'tsit	There are always ways, Grand Duke.
Grand Duke Vanya	Some want me dead, and some do not. I thought you a scientist, one that should not be so... easily fooled. Ah... or could it be, some have paid you off? Some have exploited your vengeful rage, so as to have me killed?
Kal'tsit	I believe I have no comment, Your Grace. It is time. I will inject the drug.
Grand Duke Vanya	Ah, you have signed my death warrant. Very good. This may be leagues simpler than such torture... Hmm... ......
Kal'tsit	It's done, Your Grace.
Grand Duke Vanya	How much time do I have left?
Kal'tsit	Fifteen minutes, Your Grace.
Grand Duke Vanya	Tell me, young one, is the scenery before me very beautiful?
Kal'tsit	All the land is budding, and the sunshine will feed it, filling it with hope.
Grand Duke Vanya	Is it beautiful?
Kal'tsit	It's a magnificent scene, but this magnificence is trivially ordinary to Ursus.
Grand Duke Vanya	Heh. Young ones always are good with words... How many of our people... could ever see this view? That's right... flowers, my flowers. I scattered seeds... have they sprouted? Have they begun to bud? These eyes of mine, so ruined, could not even persevere long enough to see them bloom...
Kal'tsit	So far, at least... you're out of luck. It seems the Empire's winter was detrimental to the growth of these ornamental plants.
Grand Duke Vanya	Ah... they cannot bloom here?
Kal'tsit	In this boundless winter, what did you plant?
Grand Duke Vanya	When I was young... I took part in a war against Kazimierz. Have you fought a war before, Kal'tsit?
Kal'tsit	......
Grand Duke Vanya	War is wild and chaotic. Ten-some minutes past the first sound of gunfire, formation and battlefield had lost all meaning. A few knights wounded my leg, and bludgeoned my head. I tossed my helmet aside, and as if for my life, I crawled... crawled until I reached a flower field. In there I blacked out, and was later saved by reinforcements. In my giddy daze, I remembered what those flowers were like.
Kal'tsit	...Pine lilies.
Grand Duke Vanya	Yes... after the war, I asked someone to bring back some seeds from the frontier. I hated their Kazimierz scientific name, and so called them by a completely new one. I like those flowers. My city regarded them as a symbol of the city itself. Ursus's soil... is more suited to raising them than Kazimierz's. My wife... cared for them, cared for them so well. But they... never broke through the soil.
Kal'tsit	Spring didn't come soon enough, Your Grace.
Grand Duke Vanya	Ah... the earth of my beloved Ursus. Know it can nurture hopes of all kind.
Kal'tsit	It is irrigated, too, by the bodies of the poor and the Infected.
Grand Duke Vanya	I don't deny it has likely committed all manner of atrocity. Yet even so, the earth forgives all... ah, I feel tired...
Kal'tsit	That doesn't seem a very convincing excuse.
Grand Duke Vanya	Excuse? No, young one... I never thought I'd earn any pardon, and I never wanted for one... Only–Only in life's final moments, do I think... I was able to realize... the meaning... it was all... Pine lilies... I want... to see her again... Leave, now, young one. I feel... how warm, the sunlight, as if I... can, once... again, see... Hahh...
Kal'tsit	Perhaps you never had the means to pardon yourself in your final moments. (Ursine) May yet Ursus forget you, Grand Duke.
Grand Duke Vanya	(Ursine) ...Ursus... my... ...motherland...
<Background 3>
Kal'tsit	Sir, the Grand Duke has fallen asleep.
Ursus Officer	You don't need to tell me. We've had orders. We can only enter after half an hour. Hah. Same home as the Grand Duke, hmph? I've heard why you young women are all squeezing to work in this retreat. It's just to seek patronage from important nobles, isn't it? Are you satisfied now? What are you staring off for? Don't tell me you want me to shine your shoes?
Kal'tsit	No, how could I dare... I'm very sorry! Sir, don't be angry, I'll be going right now...
Ursus Officer	Gah, lowlife...
<Background 2>
Lillia	Paring knives will very easily rust, and lead to infection. We'll pay close attention to his condition, rest assured.
Witte	Good, thank you. It seems the blood rushing to my friend's head has cost me a considerable amount of time... After he leaves the infirmary, please tell him, he has set alight the blaze in our hearts, and please have him trust. Trust his friend Islam Witte. But for now, I must be on my way with my Messenger.
Lillia	Safe travels.
[Kal'tsit shows up...]
Kal'tsit	......
Witte	......
[...just as Witte leaves.]
<Background fades out and in>
Lillia	(Kal'tsit–!)
Kal'tsit	(We leave immediately.) (The Minister of Finance will have those bureaucrats' subordinates jumping at shadows. That's our best cover.)
Lillia	(Is... is he dead?)
Kal'tsit	(The time to effect was shorter than I thought. He couldn't hold himself together much longer in the first place.)
Lillia	(There are countless people who'll want to exploit his death. Maybe them fighting on all fronts will create an opening for us.)
Kal'tsit	(Let's go.)
[As Kal'tsit and Lillia leaves, the latter grabs the former.]
Lillia	Kal'tsit– Thank you. For me... For us, you've put an end to it all, with your own hands.
Kal'tsit	It isn't over yet. No matter in what form it takes... perhaps sooner or later, we'll confront this empire once again.