[Legend of Sun Knight] fic: Bittersweet Sweetness Part 8
Title: Bittersweet Sweetness Part 8
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 1,640
Summary: Instead of receiving a brooch that dresses him in an assassin's clothes, Sun receives a trinket that switches his consciousness around with Judgment's. Now, Judgment must find out the mystery behind the Death Knight in Sun's stead. Problem is, imitating Sun's poor swordsmanship is no easy feat, and who knew what Sun was doing with Judgment's body in the meantime? Alternate telling of the end of volume 1 of the novels.
Notes: I've sailed past 10k with this part! Sun's parts always end up longer...
Previous Part
Part 8 - Sun
After Roland teleported himself away -- damn, even I didn't know how to do that yet -- we easily cleared away the rest of the dark creatures and made sure none had escaped into the city. I thought we'd be battling dark creature after dark creature without end, and that we would have to fight a Death Lord straight on, which might result in me dying before I ever got the chance again to savor sweet sweets instead of bitter sweets -- Judgment's taste buds are whacked, okay -- but that hadn't happened.
Roland had chosen to retreat. My traitorous self was happy about that even while another part of me was horrified at what we had let loose among the city. Roland had already been strong. Now he even had dark creatures under his command.
How is that fair? I thought grumpily. He's already too impressive with a sword. Add on these new, flashy skills of his...
Before he had vanished, he'd smiled -- it wasn't mocking, or smug, or taunting. It was a smile that was similar to the ones that I had sometimes evoked whenever I asked Roland to beat a dog for me, or to sneak out to buy blueberry desserts for me, or to cover for me even though he was the worst liar ever. It was a smile that spoke of the sticky situation I always put him in, of how difficult it was to do what I asked of him. How could he help cover for me when he was such a bad liar, his inability to lie rivaling my inability to wield a sword? How could he sneak out when we weren't supposed to leave the grounds, when he was such a stickler for upholding the rules? How could he beat a dog when it didn't even reach his knees, when he refused to hurt those weaker than him? I always asked the impossible of him, and while he found my requests difficult, he always helped me out in the end. That was the Roland I had known.
His smile told me that he didn't want to be in this situation, that even though he had died and become a Death Lord, a dark creature that even the Basic Knowledge of Undead Creatures textbook says should never be born, he was still Roland, the Roland that had been my friend.
I slid the Divine Judgment Sword back in its place by my side and almost laughed at how I had been able to fight with a sword without impaling myself. If only my teacher were privy to what I'd managed to do! Wielding a sword in such a way had felt amazing. I never knew that was what fighting with a sword was supposed to feel like. The sword had felt like a part of me, though I'd found that I sucked just as much as usual if I thought too much about it. However, if I let Judgment's body move on its own, it still remembered how to dodge and how to strike with quick reactions that were more reflexive than anything.
Funny, since whenever I tried not thinking while I fought in the past as myself, my sword always flew out of my hand, so over-thinking wasn't the problem...
Now, if only I could somehow absorb Judgment's fighting ability so that I could do the same when we return to ourselves...! My teacher might die of happiness if I could accomplish that, or maybe he'd die of shock instead, since swordsmanship was the one thing he couldn't get me to learn no matter how much he tried to drill it into me. Yes, it was just that one thing, since I did manage to stay on my horse after my teacher threatened to send me to the God of Light with one strike if I were to fall off, so don't you dare mock my horse-riding skills!
During our battle with the dark creatures, however, I distinctly realized that neither Judgment nor I were capable of fighting at our best with this switch. Maybe it was because we weren't used to each other's bodies yet, but his fighting style wasn't mine, and that had cost me. At times, I had paused at the most inopportune moment, hand in mid-motion of casting magic when there was no magic to draw on. If both of us had been ourselves, I doubted Roland would have been able to retreat even with his flashy new skills.
The side of me that was more Grisia than the Sun Knight said that perhaps this was for the best.
"Sun, are you all right?" asked Blaze worriedly, breaking me out of my reminiscing.
"I'm-" I paused when Blaze slid his eyes towards me. He hadn't been looking at me before then. Oh right, I currently wasn't "Sun". "I'm wondering the same thing too," I said instead, turning my head slightly to look at Lesus.
He didn't look all right at all. His paleness rivaled that of a ghost's, and he looked just about to keel over, his white clothes stained with a deep red, but he held his hand up when Blaze moved to support him.
"I..." he started before he coughed blood into his no longer pristine, no longer white gloves. Or actually, they were my gloves, and it always pained me when they got dirty because they were so hard to wash, but it was much too confusing at the moment to make the distinction of who the gloves belonged to, and Lesus was coughing up blood.
Alarmed, I tossed a Moderate Heal at Lesus, the healing spell cast before I even realized I had gathered holy magic to do that. I flexed my hand, feeling very empty after a mere Moderate Heal. Judgment's reserve of holy magic was so low! Maybe I could help him expand that by using it more...
Blaze blinked. He stared at me, impressed. "Wow, Judgment, your healing has improved!”
Right, Judgment wasn't supposed to be able to do that. “I thought it would be useful,” I explained. I wasn't exaggerating or anything. It would be useful! When would healing spells ever not be useful?
“How do you feel now, Sun?” asked Blaze in concern. It was good that he asked, since I wanted to know too, and Ice wasn't helping with that since he was just staring with his frigid face. I could tell he was concerned too though. He'd even opted to stand in close proximity with "Sun", not close enough to make his platoon members gossip, but close enough to dash over and catch "Sun" if he were to fall.
Lesus was in the middle of shaking his head at my actions when Blaze questioned him, resulting in a half shake, half nod before he settled on a reassuring smile. So that's how I look when I smile. Am I narcissistic for thinking I look quite charming? I should totally be at the top of every woman's list for the best smile! "I...Sun feels fine. Let us return to the Holy Temple,” Lesus said, awkwardly imitating my speech. We were, after all, in quite a public place.
I covered my mouth before my laughter could escape, muffling it into a cough. Lesus immediately shot me a dark look.
Whoa, I have quite a glare! But nothing compares to Judgment's actual glare...but hey, Lesus, stop glowering, you're supposed to be all smiles! I thought you liked smiling!
When Blaze offered yet again to support "Sun", Lesus shook his head.
"Knight-Captain Blaze, pick out members of your platoon that are still capable of fighting and accompany the rest of your platoon to see the clerics. We must have holy knights patrolling the city at all times now that we have a Death Lord walking among us. Sun will send members of his platoon to help you." He paused before adding, "May the God of Light have mercy on this wayward soul."
Hey, hey, Lesus...don't think you can imitate me just by tacking that on at the end!
Blaze nodded slowly, though he kept glancing back at "Sun" even as he left. I even heard him mutter under his breath about how he couldn't believe how reliable "Sun" seemed at the moment, and how straight to the point his words had been. And what was with the crazy swordsmanship that "Sun" had displayed...
Hey, I'm always reliable! And what do you mean by "crazy" swordsmanship? What did Lesus do?
I know my swordsmanship has been called lousy, messy, terrible, unsalvageable...you get the point, but it's never been called crazy before!
"Knight-Captain Ice," Lesus continued. "Sun suggests for you to do the same."
Ice turned to me to see if I agreed. I nodded, but Lesus stopped Ice before he could leave.
"Take the Judgment Knight Platoon with you too. Knight-Captain Judgment and Sun have much to discuss regarding the Death Lord."
Lesus then shot me a pointed look. Even though I hadn't suddenly developed the ability to read minds just like I hadn't suddenly developed the ability to communicate via telepathy, I knew what was going on through his mind. You're not going to let a Death Lord walk free, are you? was what he was asking me.
"Do as he says, Ice," I said dryly. "Have them healed and then select the ones you feel can patrol tonight. You may choose from my platoon too."
After that, there were only the two of us left. Lesus had very obviously sent them away so that we could be alone.
“We need to talk,” Lesus said immediately. I shut my mouth before I could say, "You're not planning on breaking up with me, are you?" since I didn't think he'd appreciate my quip.
His tone had sounded pretty foreboding after all.
-----
to be continued
When I tried going to sleep last night, I was plagued by a ton of ideas for this fic and just could not sleep before I got up and jotted everything down. XD;
Next Part
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 1,640
Summary: Instead of receiving a brooch that dresses him in an assassin's clothes, Sun receives a trinket that switches his consciousness around with Judgment's. Now, Judgment must find out the mystery behind the Death Knight in Sun's stead. Problem is, imitating Sun's poor swordsmanship is no easy feat, and who knew what Sun was doing with Judgment's body in the meantime? Alternate telling of the end of volume 1 of the novels.
Notes: I've sailed past 10k with this part! Sun's parts always end up longer...
Previous Part
Part 8 - Sun
After Roland teleported himself away -- damn, even I didn't know how to do that yet -- we easily cleared away the rest of the dark creatures and made sure none had escaped into the city. I thought we'd be battling dark creature after dark creature without end, and that we would have to fight a Death Lord straight on, which might result in me dying before I ever got the chance again to savor sweet sweets instead of bitter sweets -- Judgment's taste buds are whacked, okay -- but that hadn't happened.
Roland had chosen to retreat. My traitorous self was happy about that even while another part of me was horrified at what we had let loose among the city. Roland had already been strong. Now he even had dark creatures under his command.
How is that fair? I thought grumpily. He's already too impressive with a sword. Add on these new, flashy skills of his...
Before he had vanished, he'd smiled -- it wasn't mocking, or smug, or taunting. It was a smile that was similar to the ones that I had sometimes evoked whenever I asked Roland to beat a dog for me, or to sneak out to buy blueberry desserts for me, or to cover for me even though he was the worst liar ever. It was a smile that spoke of the sticky situation I always put him in, of how difficult it was to do what I asked of him. How could he help cover for me when he was such a bad liar, his inability to lie rivaling my inability to wield a sword? How could he sneak out when we weren't supposed to leave the grounds, when he was such a stickler for upholding the rules? How could he beat a dog when it didn't even reach his knees, when he refused to hurt those weaker than him? I always asked the impossible of him, and while he found my requests difficult, he always helped me out in the end. That was the Roland I had known.
His smile told me that he didn't want to be in this situation, that even though he had died and become a Death Lord, a dark creature that even the Basic Knowledge of Undead Creatures textbook says should never be born, he was still Roland, the Roland that had been my friend.
I slid the Divine Judgment Sword back in its place by my side and almost laughed at how I had been able to fight with a sword without impaling myself. If only my teacher were privy to what I'd managed to do! Wielding a sword in such a way had felt amazing. I never knew that was what fighting with a sword was supposed to feel like. The sword had felt like a part of me, though I'd found that I sucked just as much as usual if I thought too much about it. However, if I let Judgment's body move on its own, it still remembered how to dodge and how to strike with quick reactions that were more reflexive than anything.
Funny, since whenever I tried not thinking while I fought in the past as myself, my sword always flew out of my hand, so over-thinking wasn't the problem...
Now, if only I could somehow absorb Judgment's fighting ability so that I could do the same when we return to ourselves...! My teacher might die of happiness if I could accomplish that, or maybe he'd die of shock instead, since swordsmanship was the one thing he couldn't get me to learn no matter how much he tried to drill it into me. Yes, it was just that one thing, since I did manage to stay on my horse after my teacher threatened to send me to the God of Light with one strike if I were to fall off, so don't you dare mock my horse-riding skills!
During our battle with the dark creatures, however, I distinctly realized that neither Judgment nor I were capable of fighting at our best with this switch. Maybe it was because we weren't used to each other's bodies yet, but his fighting style wasn't mine, and that had cost me. At times, I had paused at the most inopportune moment, hand in mid-motion of casting magic when there was no magic to draw on. If both of us had been ourselves, I doubted Roland would have been able to retreat even with his flashy new skills.
The side of me that was more Grisia than the Sun Knight said that perhaps this was for the best.
"Sun, are you all right?" asked Blaze worriedly, breaking me out of my reminiscing.
"I'm-" I paused when Blaze slid his eyes towards me. He hadn't been looking at me before then. Oh right, I currently wasn't "Sun". "I'm wondering the same thing too," I said instead, turning my head slightly to look at Lesus.
He didn't look all right at all. His paleness rivaled that of a ghost's, and he looked just about to keel over, his white clothes stained with a deep red, but he held his hand up when Blaze moved to support him.
"I..." he started before he coughed blood into his no longer pristine, no longer white gloves. Or actually, they were my gloves, and it always pained me when they got dirty because they were so hard to wash, but it was much too confusing at the moment to make the distinction of who the gloves belonged to, and Lesus was coughing up blood.
Alarmed, I tossed a Moderate Heal at Lesus, the healing spell cast before I even realized I had gathered holy magic to do that. I flexed my hand, feeling very empty after a mere Moderate Heal. Judgment's reserve of holy magic was so low! Maybe I could help him expand that by using it more...
Blaze blinked. He stared at me, impressed. "Wow, Judgment, your healing has improved!”
Right, Judgment wasn't supposed to be able to do that. “I thought it would be useful,” I explained. I wasn't exaggerating or anything. It would be useful! When would healing spells ever not be useful?
“How do you feel now, Sun?” asked Blaze in concern. It was good that he asked, since I wanted to know too, and Ice wasn't helping with that since he was just staring with his frigid face. I could tell he was concerned too though. He'd even opted to stand in close proximity with "Sun", not close enough to make his platoon members gossip, but close enough to dash over and catch "Sun" if he were to fall.
Lesus was in the middle of shaking his head at my actions when Blaze questioned him, resulting in a half shake, half nod before he settled on a reassuring smile. So that's how I look when I smile. Am I narcissistic for thinking I look quite charming? I should totally be at the top of every woman's list for the best smile! "I...Sun feels fine. Let us return to the Holy Temple,” Lesus said, awkwardly imitating my speech. We were, after all, in quite a public place.
I covered my mouth before my laughter could escape, muffling it into a cough. Lesus immediately shot me a dark look.
Whoa, I have quite a glare! But nothing compares to Judgment's actual glare...but hey, Lesus, stop glowering, you're supposed to be all smiles! I thought you liked smiling!
When Blaze offered yet again to support "Sun", Lesus shook his head.
"Knight-Captain Blaze, pick out members of your platoon that are still capable of fighting and accompany the rest of your platoon to see the clerics. We must have holy knights patrolling the city at all times now that we have a Death Lord walking among us. Sun will send members of his platoon to help you." He paused before adding, "May the God of Light have mercy on this wayward soul."
Hey, hey, Lesus...don't think you can imitate me just by tacking that on at the end!
Blaze nodded slowly, though he kept glancing back at "Sun" even as he left. I even heard him mutter under his breath about how he couldn't believe how reliable "Sun" seemed at the moment, and how straight to the point his words had been. And what was with the crazy swordsmanship that "Sun" had displayed...
Hey, I'm always reliable! And what do you mean by "crazy" swordsmanship? What did Lesus do?
I know my swordsmanship has been called lousy, messy, terrible, unsalvageable...you get the point, but it's never been called crazy before!
"Knight-Captain Ice," Lesus continued. "Sun suggests for you to do the same."
Ice turned to me to see if I agreed. I nodded, but Lesus stopped Ice before he could leave.
"Take the Judgment Knight Platoon with you too. Knight-Captain Judgment and Sun have much to discuss regarding the Death Lord."
Lesus then shot me a pointed look. Even though I hadn't suddenly developed the ability to read minds just like I hadn't suddenly developed the ability to communicate via telepathy, I knew what was going on through his mind. You're not going to let a Death Lord walk free, are you? was what he was asking me.
"Do as he says, Ice," I said dryly. "Have them healed and then select the ones you feel can patrol tonight. You may choose from my platoon too."
After that, there were only the two of us left. Lesus had very obviously sent them away so that we could be alone.
“We need to talk,” Lesus said immediately. I shut my mouth before I could say, "You're not planning on breaking up with me, are you?" since I didn't think he'd appreciate my quip.
His tone had sounded pretty foreboding after all.
-----
to be continued
When I tried going to sleep last night, I was plagued by a ton of ideas for this fic and just could not sleep before I got up and jotted everything down. XD;
Next Part