#(for anyone who's wondering: I'm planning to upload them to AO3 gradually lol)

[sophelia-moon]

Unearth

This is my fic for Day 6 of MikaYuu Bingo 2020! Today’s prompt was “royal AU.”

Rating: T (Warnings for: swearing; sexual innuendo; minor character death)

                                                        Unearth

Two archbishops and twenty high priests guarded the tomb of King Yuuichirou I. This was not, of course, out of respect for his legacy; they were loyal citizens of the republic, one and all. The simple truth was this: upon his death, the tyrant’s tomb had been hideously, horrendously cursed, such that anyone who wandered in would surely meet their doom.

As is the way of the world, on a clear, sunny day in spring, three tomb robbers invited themselves in.

                                                            ***

In the opinion of one Hyakuya Mikaela, a consummate professional, two would have been quite enough.

“No, it would not,” said his associate. “You’ve seen the size of this guy’s blessing, right?”

“I’m begging you to rephrase.”

“Fine. Greela wants to lick his skin and crawl—"

“Please, stop,” said the interloper. “It’s kind of a new thing for me. I really don’t want to get smote today.”

With an insouciant shrug, Mikaela’s partner in crime, Hyakuya Akane, backed off. Their trudge through barren miles of desert was nearing its end. At the entrance of the tomb, the work would begin.

Mikaela leveled a glare filled with suspicion upon their temporary acquisition, Satou Asahi. He was an unremarkable young man in appearance, with a head of black hair and a plain face. No matter how delicate the operation that lay ahead, Mikaela couldn’t let the statement slide.

“New thing?”

“It started a month ago,” he said, brown irises melding with his pupils. “I went to worship as much as anyone as a kid, but I’ve never been god-touched in my life! I’m still not sure this isn’t a dream.”

“No wonder you didn’t get snapped up,” Akane said.

“This isn’t permanent,” he said quickly, glancing at Mikaela. “I’m just here for the money.”

Aren’t we all, Mikaela thought. Once they were done here, he and Akane were going straight back to Argensir. If the amount of treasure in this place was a tenth of what rumor whispered, they were set for life. Could get themselves into the knighthood, even.

Ordinarily, robbing a place like this would have been impossible with a hundred men, much less three. That’s where Satou Asahi, blessed by the goddess of shadows, came in. Mikaela begrudgingly acknowledged the strength of his gift, which encased the three of them in a veil of darkness visible only to themselves, concealing them from the naked eye; they were undetectable by magical means, as well.

They stopped three paces away from the door.

Roughly thirty feet wide, the building was composed of bricks baked gold by centuries of sun. The aboveground portion was two stories high; according to their map, there were three underground levels to plunder. The roof had been transformed into a military encampment; brave priests stood ready to shoot orbs of fire down at any who’d dare steal the Argensirian Republic’s rightful property.

All in all, it was a shockingly modest structure for a famously extravagant king.

They were too close to speak now. Mikaela and Satou hung back as Akane examined the entrance.

From the way Akane’s mouth twisted, Mikaela could tell the protections were intimidating. He watched as the shadows shifted and danced over her body; a sideways look at Satou didn’t reveal any strange movements, so Mikaela hoped this meant Greela approved of their actions.

Three tense minutes later, she gave them a sharp nod. They huddled close together as she eased open the door as quietly as she could manage.

                                                            ***

They’d agreed on the division of labor beforehand. Akane would take the top two floors, Mikaela the next two, and Satou the lowest, where the king’s body resided. The darkness inside was total; Mikaela lit their torches with a conjuration of flame before they split.

If he ever feared the tomb would prove lacking, his doubts were put to bed by the wealth crammed into every available surface. Every room was laden with treasure: there, a metallic bird with ruby eyes; here, a room filled with life-sized marble statues; paintings, jewelry, weaponry, gems, silver, gold. Valuables of the kind that belonged in only the wealthiest of citizen’s homes, and many that were too grand even for them—it was the fashion to abhor ostentatious displays of greed.

Mikaela cared not for fashion. He stuffed everything he could manage into his pack.

He was deciding between a small ruby ring and a larger diamond when he heard a great rumble from below. He held himself still, straining his ears, but no further sound reached him.

Satou was an amateur; if he’d stumbled into a trap and got caught, there was every chance he’d sell them out. That couldn’t be allowed to happen.

Mikaela made for the stairs and descended to the bottom of the tomb.

The ground floor wasn’t sectioned off into honeycomb cells like the rest; there were no walls to be seen—or precious items, for that matter. There was only the coffin, stone top pushed off-kilter, and Satou, who was staring down at it.

“Hey,” Mikaela said. “What happened?”

Satou shook his head, as if scattering droplets of water. “Nothing. The body’s the only thing here. Looks pretty ordinary, huh?”

Mikaela approached him and saw for himself. It was a skeleton—not even any material goods to send him on his way. “Yeah. Kings are the same as us peons, after all.”

“Death comes for us all,” he said softly. His eyes seemed to glow green in the pitch black.

“The great equalizer. It’ll get those bastards rotting away in their mansions, too. But we don’t have to worry about that anymore, do we? We’re rich.”

“Are we?”

Mikaela took a step back. “Let’s return. It’s nearly time to meet up with Akane.”

“Yes,” he said. “I’m eager to taste a breath of fresh air again.”