[Legend of Sun Knight] fic: New Horizons -That Person Now Returned- (2/9)
Title: New Horizons -That Person Now Returned- (2/9)
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 1,637
Summary: Not long after Grisia assumes the position of the 38th Sun Knight, he spots a familiar face among the crowds-Roland, who has become a royal knight captain after disappearing from Grisia's life. However, trouble brews among the palace. This time around, is it Grisia's turn to look after Roland?
Notes: Part 2!
Part 2
After vanquishing the undead creatures I had Pink summon for me, the city sung endless praise of the Sun Knight. I had put on quite a performance, dragging out the fight beautifully, before finally dispatching the two pitiful dead knights she had summoned, to great applause from the bystanders. We were in such a time of peace that even such a small fight was met with applause and cheers.
Thanks to that performance, the next worship service boomed with attendees. The Hall of Praise, the Church of the God of Light's largest building, was pretty much packed to the brim. I walked forward to the stage, happy that I had managed to bring in such a large crowd, as more people meant more donations, yet it also meant I had to sing in front of way too many people!
Storm walked by my side, winking non-stop at all the girls in the audience. There were so many people in attendance that he had not a moment of respite to his winking.
"This is all your fault, Sun. I never want to get paired with you again for these worship services!" Storm muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile, I was waving slowly at all the people to acknowledge their presence, making sure that each wave was no faster than the speed at which I combed my hair, and I'll have you know that I comb my hair extremely slowly and gently to avoid pulling any hairs out. The Sun Knight, losing too much hair and going bald? That's just preposterous!
Now, as for why Storm was bemoaning getting partnered with me for worship services, it was because somehow the weeks we conducted the services together always boomed with attendees, so much that the Pope gleefully signed us up for tons of rotations together. Any week that I led usually had an uptick in attendance that I called the "Sun Knight effect," but with Storm in the mix, somehow that number would skyrocket even more.
It made me want to go and steal the Pope's list to change the rotation. We, the Twelve Holy Knights, took turns leading the weekly worship services in pairs, but that did not mean I had to partner up with Storm all the time and face such immense crowds. Why can't I get paired with Metal? No one ever attends his services!
I mean, converting more worshipers into believers of the God of Light was my duty, but this was just taking it too far.
The only times when the crowds were worse was when all of the Twelve Holy Knights joined together to conduct the worship service. Thank the God of Light that those worship services only happened during special events, such as someone from the royal family getting married, or someone from the royal family having a birthday, or someone from the royal family going on their first hunting trip, or someone from the royal family... You get the point. The Pope called for special services with any reason he could so that he could squeeze donations from the worshipers to their last ducat.
Storm and I took our positions at the right side of the stage. Soon after, the Pope welcomed us all, with words from the Priest of Brilliance and the Priest of Radiance, praising the God of Light and extolling the deeds of the previous generations of Twelve Holy Knights. Following that, the clerics in the back began a chorus of "la la las" before Storm and I then opened our hymn books and began singing.
Is that a shriek I hear? I must be hearing things? Why would anyone react to our singing that way?
Storm's voice and mine blended well, with mine slightly higher than Storm's. We were considered the better singers among the Twelve Holy Knights. I know I practiced a ton because my teacher would never let me live it down if I could not sing gracefully, but I wonder what made Storm practice so much. I glanced over, immediately receiving my answer.
Ah, he's pretending he's so into the song that his eyes have closed on their own. Such a pretense meant he didn't need to be winking at anyone while we sang, a brief respite for his eyes.
I hope he doesn't fall asleep. I probably would if I closed my eyes while singing.
The problem with singing was that it was so boring. Hymns did require us to inject holy light into the song as we sang, but that came so naturally to me that it was like breathing and therefore truly quite boring. As I sang, I let my eyes wander, since this was the perfect time to record some beauties. What better way to stave off the boredom? There was nothing else I could do while stuck up here singing anyway.
As I looked for a suitable beauty to record, my eyes were instead drawn to someone standing to the side behind the crowds, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Unlike Storm who was pretending that he was super into the song, this guy was probably truly captivated. Although his expression appeared troubled, as the song went on, the holy light from the song seemed to soothe his worries, his expression relaxing.
He was dressed in lobster red-a royal knight. No, not just any royal knight. He was a royal knight captain.
There were several royal knights in attendance, as was always the case with worship services, since the royal family always attended, even if not the entire family. Today, it was the princess in attendance, which I did not mind all too much. The crowds were much more pleasant during times when the princess joined us instead of the fat pig king. Whenever the fat pig king showed up, we'd have to be on the lookup for riots, and there was no guarantee that we could safely finish any songs. None of the royal knights would be able to close their eyes to experience the song like this.
Though there were several royal knights here for the security of the nobles and the princess, the knight by the wall seemed to be off duty for the moment. He stood separately from the rest, as if he were just another person among the crowd, but clad in that lobster red and bearing a height that was at least a head taller than all those around him, there was no way he wouldn't be eye-catching.
But none of those reasons were why my eyes had been drawn to him.
This was the knight from the crowd the other day. He was just so familiar, yet I hadn't been able to place him then, and I couldn't now either. I'm not trying to boast or anything, but I have a really good memory, to the point that I can recall a spell just from seeing it once, so I should have been able to recognize him right away. I knew this guy, and not because of all my visits to the palace. He wasn't just another colleague. My mind didn't equate him with a royal knight. I knew him outside of that lobster red. He is... He is...
Just as I thought that, I finished singing the current verse, and he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze sought me out, his expression serious, bringing to mind the serious boy who had been my childhood friend, only that face was now sharper, belonging to a grown man. That change was why I hadn't recognized him right away. I somehow had not considered that the royal knight would be someone from my past. He was all grown up now, when the last time I saw him, he had only been half this height, vanishing from my life after I was announced as the next Sun Knight instead of him.
We had all thought it would be him.
Roland.
I almost forgot to start singing again. Storm had already started on the next verse. I joined in as quickly as I could, but I was still a beat late, no doubt earning me a questioning glance from Storm, but I didn't turn to check his response. I had my eyes trained on Roland. I didn't want to lose him among the crowd, though that would actually be no easy feat to accomplish.
Seeing my attention on him, he inclined his head, the smallest of smiles gracing his face, sending a pang to my heart.
Where have you been all these years?
He was clearly a royal knight now, and a captain no less. After the end of the Sun Knight selections, was that where you went? He did have such good swordsmanship. I imagine he must have passed their trials with flying colors.
Have you been so close this entire time?
When the singing finally ended and we began the part that truly mattered, the asking of donations, I had to plaster on one of my brightest smiles when all I wanted to do was barge into the crowd to accost Roland. But I couldn't leave, and Storm even gave me a jab to get my head back in the game. With the sheer amount of attendees we had today, the donations similarly exploded. Normally, I would be quite gleefully counting the ducats that came pouring in to make sure that the Pope gave us our fair share later on, but with my long estranged friend among the crowd, I was finding it immensely hard to focus on the task at hand. By the time we finished, Roland was no longer among the those still milling about.
But that mattered little. Now that I knew he was a royal knight captain, I could easily seek him out.
Yet, I did not.
to be continued
This entry was originally posted at https://lucathia.dreamwidth.org/362936.html. You can comment here or there.
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 1,637
Summary: Not long after Grisia assumes the position of the 38th Sun Knight, he spots a familiar face among the crowds-Roland, who has become a royal knight captain after disappearing from Grisia's life. However, trouble brews among the palace. This time around, is it Grisia's turn to look after Roland?
Notes: Part 2!
Part 2
After vanquishing the undead creatures I had Pink summon for me, the city sung endless praise of the Sun Knight. I had put on quite a performance, dragging out the fight beautifully, before finally dispatching the two pitiful dead knights she had summoned, to great applause from the bystanders. We were in such a time of peace that even such a small fight was met with applause and cheers.
Thanks to that performance, the next worship service boomed with attendees. The Hall of Praise, the Church of the God of Light's largest building, was pretty much packed to the brim. I walked forward to the stage, happy that I had managed to bring in such a large crowd, as more people meant more donations, yet it also meant I had to sing in front of way too many people!
Storm walked by my side, winking non-stop at all the girls in the audience. There were so many people in attendance that he had not a moment of respite to his winking.
"This is all your fault, Sun. I never want to get paired with you again for these worship services!" Storm muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile, I was waving slowly at all the people to acknowledge their presence, making sure that each wave was no faster than the speed at which I combed my hair, and I'll have you know that I comb my hair extremely slowly and gently to avoid pulling any hairs out. The Sun Knight, losing too much hair and going bald? That's just preposterous!
Now, as for why Storm was bemoaning getting partnered with me for worship services, it was because somehow the weeks we conducted the services together always boomed with attendees, so much that the Pope gleefully signed us up for tons of rotations together. Any week that I led usually had an uptick in attendance that I called the "Sun Knight effect," but with Storm in the mix, somehow that number would skyrocket even more.
It made me want to go and steal the Pope's list to change the rotation. We, the Twelve Holy Knights, took turns leading the weekly worship services in pairs, but that did not mean I had to partner up with Storm all the time and face such immense crowds. Why can't I get paired with Metal? No one ever attends his services!
I mean, converting more worshipers into believers of the God of Light was my duty, but this was just taking it too far.
The only times when the crowds were worse was when all of the Twelve Holy Knights joined together to conduct the worship service. Thank the God of Light that those worship services only happened during special events, such as someone from the royal family getting married, or someone from the royal family having a birthday, or someone from the royal family going on their first hunting trip, or someone from the royal family... You get the point. The Pope called for special services with any reason he could so that he could squeeze donations from the worshipers to their last ducat.
Storm and I took our positions at the right side of the stage. Soon after, the Pope welcomed us all, with words from the Priest of Brilliance and the Priest of Radiance, praising the God of Light and extolling the deeds of the previous generations of Twelve Holy Knights. Following that, the clerics in the back began a chorus of "la la las" before Storm and I then opened our hymn books and began singing.
Is that a shriek I hear? I must be hearing things? Why would anyone react to our singing that way?
Storm's voice and mine blended well, with mine slightly higher than Storm's. We were considered the better singers among the Twelve Holy Knights. I know I practiced a ton because my teacher would never let me live it down if I could not sing gracefully, but I wonder what made Storm practice so much. I glanced over, immediately receiving my answer.
Ah, he's pretending he's so into the song that his eyes have closed on their own. Such a pretense meant he didn't need to be winking at anyone while we sang, a brief respite for his eyes.
I hope he doesn't fall asleep. I probably would if I closed my eyes while singing.
The problem with singing was that it was so boring. Hymns did require us to inject holy light into the song as we sang, but that came so naturally to me that it was like breathing and therefore truly quite boring. As I sang, I let my eyes wander, since this was the perfect time to record some beauties. What better way to stave off the boredom? There was nothing else I could do while stuck up here singing anyway.
As I looked for a suitable beauty to record, my eyes were instead drawn to someone standing to the side behind the crowds, leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and arms crossed. Unlike Storm who was pretending that he was super into the song, this guy was probably truly captivated. Although his expression appeared troubled, as the song went on, the holy light from the song seemed to soothe his worries, his expression relaxing.
He was dressed in lobster red-a royal knight. No, not just any royal knight. He was a royal knight captain.
There were several royal knights in attendance, as was always the case with worship services, since the royal family always attended, even if not the entire family. Today, it was the princess in attendance, which I did not mind all too much. The crowds were much more pleasant during times when the princess joined us instead of the fat pig king. Whenever the fat pig king showed up, we'd have to be on the lookup for riots, and there was no guarantee that we could safely finish any songs. None of the royal knights would be able to close their eyes to experience the song like this.
Though there were several royal knights here for the security of the nobles and the princess, the knight by the wall seemed to be off duty for the moment. He stood separately from the rest, as if he were just another person among the crowd, but clad in that lobster red and bearing a height that was at least a head taller than all those around him, there was no way he wouldn't be eye-catching.
But none of those reasons were why my eyes had been drawn to him.
This was the knight from the crowd the other day. He was just so familiar, yet I hadn't been able to place him then, and I couldn't now either. I'm not trying to boast or anything, but I have a really good memory, to the point that I can recall a spell just from seeing it once, so I should have been able to recognize him right away. I knew this guy, and not because of all my visits to the palace. He wasn't just another colleague. My mind didn't equate him with a royal knight. I knew him outside of that lobster red. He is... He is...
Just as I thought that, I finished singing the current verse, and he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze sought me out, his expression serious, bringing to mind the serious boy who had been my childhood friend, only that face was now sharper, belonging to a grown man. That change was why I hadn't recognized him right away. I somehow had not considered that the royal knight would be someone from my past. He was all grown up now, when the last time I saw him, he had only been half this height, vanishing from my life after I was announced as the next Sun Knight instead of him.
We had all thought it would be him.
Roland.
I almost forgot to start singing again. Storm had already started on the next verse. I joined in as quickly as I could, but I was still a beat late, no doubt earning me a questioning glance from Storm, but I didn't turn to check his response. I had my eyes trained on Roland. I didn't want to lose him among the crowd, though that would actually be no easy feat to accomplish.
Seeing my attention on him, he inclined his head, the smallest of smiles gracing his face, sending a pang to my heart.
Where have you been all these years?
He was clearly a royal knight now, and a captain no less. After the end of the Sun Knight selections, was that where you went? He did have such good swordsmanship. I imagine he must have passed their trials with flying colors.
Have you been so close this entire time?
When the singing finally ended and we began the part that truly mattered, the asking of donations, I had to plaster on one of my brightest smiles when all I wanted to do was barge into the crowd to accost Roland. But I couldn't leave, and Storm even gave me a jab to get my head back in the game. With the sheer amount of attendees we had today, the donations similarly exploded. Normally, I would be quite gleefully counting the ducats that came pouring in to make sure that the Pope gave us our fair share later on, but with my long estranged friend among the crowd, I was finding it immensely hard to focus on the task at hand. By the time we finished, Roland was no longer among the those still milling about.
But that mattered little. Now that I knew he was a royal knight captain, I could easily seek him out.
Yet, I did not.
to be continued
This entry was originally posted at https://lucathia.dreamwidth.org/362936.html. You can comment here or there.