Dusting off my journal
Wow, the year is ending, and I'll only have made four posts here. Guess I'm not doing a year in fic this time, since there really isn't much to write about. 2020 has totally gone poof for me. It's been work, work, work... and mindless gacha games between work really. I've been playing Fire Emblem Heroes and Dragalia Lost like before, and kind of got back into Prince of Tennis Rising Beat for a bit, but I only ever play that on and off and can't keep up with the events. I played it non stop for two weeks and still didn't rank high enough to get SSR Ryoma. :'D Also got into Genshin Impact just recently, much later than everyone else because my computer is a brick and apparently my iPad too, but I have like... no characters to use. So... Idk.
Have some fic snippets before I go poof again. Hoping to post a bit while I have free time to wrap up the year. o/
New Horizons: That Power Forever Gone
Distantly, I could hear Awaitsun call out, "The Silent Eagle pays his respect to his Majesty, the Demon King!" Going by the rustling sounds coming over from the vicinity of his voice, it was likely that he had knelt down, but I couldn't even be sure of something so simple.
Is this to be my future? How can I even remain the Sun Knight like this?
I was utterly useless, a sitting target, a complete liability. I only knew where Roland was because of where we had stood at the start of the ritual.
Have I made the wrong choice? But this is the only way...
"Sun?" someone called out.
I forced a smile. I could not let Roland figure out that I had lost my approximation of sight because of his choice. As luck would have it, someone approached me to support me, their body solid against mine. I leaned heavily on the person, unable to tell who it was right away, but when my hand brushed against a belt, I figured it had to be Laica.
"You okay there?" Laica asked, confirming my guess.
"I'm just feeling a bit lightheaded," I said, lying through my teeth. "A little bit of rest, and I will be right back to normal."
I was not back to normal.
New Horizons: That Energetic Demon Queen
"Of course I know him!" The girl began to say, getting Charlotte's hopes up only to dash them and bury them deep in the depths of despair. "No wait, he died already."
"What? He's dead?" Charlotte cried out. How could it be? He had been so full of life just the other day! But was that why Grisia hadn't ever returned to find her again?
"A hundred years ago," the girl added on without any clue how those careless words were throwing Charlotte's emotions all over the place. "That was the last time I came to the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound. They never even let me close to his corpse after he died. What a waste! What backstabbers! He wouldn't even have lived that long if it wasn't for my assistance, and it wasn't like they had any use for his dead body."
"Oh," was all Charlotte could say in response to that story while she felt relief flooding her. Grisia wasn't the one who had died. It must be some previous Sun Knight. It couldn't be Grisia if it had happened a hundred years ago, not unless Grisia was also a walking corpse like this girl was.
Wait, was he a walking corpse?
My Friend, the Pope (in-training): Vival
Our meeting that day was a memorable one not only because it had set the stage for my first worship service, but also because that had been the first time I was ever alone in Grisia's presence. If not for that, everything that had followed probably wouldn't have happened, and I wouldn't have given Grisia "life advice" without even knowing that I had.
It started with an innocent enough question. An incriminating one, really, but still quite innocent when it all came down to it.
"Should I melt the ice right away or let it melt naturally?" he muttered.
With all his mumbling to himself, I hadn't thought he was actually asking for my opinion.
"Hey, Voila, are you listening or not?" Grisia pressed.
"Did you just call me Voila?" I asked in disbelief. Even though we hadn't interacted all that much, there was no way that he didn't actually know my name, right? Even if he forgot, he must have heard Laica call me by my name before! Besides, who would even think that anyone was named "Voila"?
My name isn't some interjection!
He seemed to perk up, his posture straightening. "Lately, I've been thinking of nicknames for everyone. I wouldn't want to leave you out. Do you like it?"
So it's actually a nickname?! I didn't know if that was better or worse. And since when have we gotten so familiar that he was making up a nickname for me? Please, it's okay if you leave me out! No one will take me seriously if they hear me get called that!
"No," I said.
"No?" Grisia asked.
"No," I said again.
Fifteen Going on Sixty Going on Fifteen
Common sense was never a strong suit among my companions.
Why should I expect anything different now?
My brother should have left for the forest instead of dedicating almost his entire life to me. When he had first come to find me, he would have never imagined that I would out live him. At most, he probably thought he would only need to keep me company for a few decades, not centuries.
My Sun, in order to protect himself, should have turned Judgment in, but he could never do so, not even when the king's order came down. We weren't even well-established, certainly not to the point of being able to fight the royal family. Yet we did.
My Judgment should have lived for herself and left us behind. Her ties to us had dragged her back to a life she never wanted. She freed Sun and Metal and countless others from a life of slavery, yet she lost her own freedom in exchange, tied down to a system she didn't believe in.
None of them had any common sense. It wasn't any different now. The people who stood before me now weren't the same as those from my memories, yet none of them had any common sense just like them!
New Horizons: That Hero of Mine
"What's to say you won't be disgusted by my appearance?" I asked.
"I, Taylen, do swear upon my name that I won't be disgusted by your appearance," Taylen said with his hand held over his heart, as if that meant anything at all other than the empty promise it was.
Hero of mine, do you really think I haven't realized that Taylen isn't your real name? It must be similar to your actual name, as you respond to it well enough, but even so, you sometimes react a beat too late. Swearing upon that name is meaningless!
But this is amusing! You think you can outsmart me, Grisia? You're a thousand years too early!
I'll humor you, hero of mine. But you better be on your toes, or this isn't going to be any fun at all.
I reached my hand up and ran my fingers along the cold metal of my mask. It was an accessory I had the Cathedral of the Shadow God make for me to keep my identity hidden. The mask lived up to its high price, as I could barely feel it was there. It was that comfortable, and it did its job of hiding my pitch black eyes beautifully.
Slowly, I lifted the mask off and lowered it. I kept my eyes closed, eagerly waiting for Taylen's response. He didn't disappoint.
A soft gasp came from him. Perhaps he was surprised that I had actually given in and taken off the mask, or perhaps it was my appearance under the mask that gave rise to his involuntary exclamation. He moved closer. I could imagine shadows caused by the flames dancing across my face as he scrutinized it, eyes roving across an altogether new sight.
"How are you disfigured?" He asked. "Your face is so smooth. You're not disfigured at all. If you're considered disfigured, then there are no handsome people in this entire world."
I quirked a smile. "Why, are you admiring my looks?"
Taylen barked a laugh at that. "You are so vain, Grisia! But tell me, if it's not that you were disfigured, why have you worn a mask this entire time? And why... are you keeping your eyes closed? Could it be that it's your eyes that were damaged?"
Should I tell him? That would end the current state of the game too soon, but why shouldn't I have my fun? I really wanted to find out how he would respond. Besides, the other adventurers were putting a snag into the original plan. How dare they stop crusading against the Demon King? How dare they get so easily lured away by other riches? I'll show you all how wrong you are!
This entry was originally posted at https://lucathia.dreamwidth.org/369485.html. You can comment here or there.
Have some fic snippets before I go poof again. Hoping to post a bit while I have free time to wrap up the year. o/
New Horizons: That Power Forever Gone
Distantly, I could hear Awaitsun call out, "The Silent Eagle pays his respect to his Majesty, the Demon King!" Going by the rustling sounds coming over from the vicinity of his voice, it was likely that he had knelt down, but I couldn't even be sure of something so simple.
Is this to be my future? How can I even remain the Sun Knight like this?
I was utterly useless, a sitting target, a complete liability. I only knew where Roland was because of where we had stood at the start of the ritual.
Have I made the wrong choice? But this is the only way...
"Sun?" someone called out.
I forced a smile. I could not let Roland figure out that I had lost my approximation of sight because of his choice. As luck would have it, someone approached me to support me, their body solid against mine. I leaned heavily on the person, unable to tell who it was right away, but when my hand brushed against a belt, I figured it had to be Laica.
"You okay there?" Laica asked, confirming my guess.
"I'm just feeling a bit lightheaded," I said, lying through my teeth. "A little bit of rest, and I will be right back to normal."
I was not back to normal.
New Horizons: That Energetic Demon Queen
"Of course I know him!" The girl began to say, getting Charlotte's hopes up only to dash them and bury them deep in the depths of despair. "No wait, he died already."
"What? He's dead?" Charlotte cried out. How could it be? He had been so full of life just the other day! But was that why Grisia hadn't ever returned to find her again?
"A hundred years ago," the girl added on without any clue how those careless words were throwing Charlotte's emotions all over the place. "That was the last time I came to the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound. They never even let me close to his corpse after he died. What a waste! What backstabbers! He wouldn't even have lived that long if it wasn't for my assistance, and it wasn't like they had any use for his dead body."
"Oh," was all Charlotte could say in response to that story while she felt relief flooding her. Grisia wasn't the one who had died. It must be some previous Sun Knight. It couldn't be Grisia if it had happened a hundred years ago, not unless Grisia was also a walking corpse like this girl was.
Wait, was he a walking corpse?
My Friend, the Pope (in-training): Vival
Our meeting that day was a memorable one not only because it had set the stage for my first worship service, but also because that had been the first time I was ever alone in Grisia's presence. If not for that, everything that had followed probably wouldn't have happened, and I wouldn't have given Grisia "life advice" without even knowing that I had.
It started with an innocent enough question. An incriminating one, really, but still quite innocent when it all came down to it.
"Should I melt the ice right away or let it melt naturally?" he muttered.
With all his mumbling to himself, I hadn't thought he was actually asking for my opinion.
"Hey, Voila, are you listening or not?" Grisia pressed.
"Did you just call me Voila?" I asked in disbelief. Even though we hadn't interacted all that much, there was no way that he didn't actually know my name, right? Even if he forgot, he must have heard Laica call me by my name before! Besides, who would even think that anyone was named "Voila"?
My name isn't some interjection!
He seemed to perk up, his posture straightening. "Lately, I've been thinking of nicknames for everyone. I wouldn't want to leave you out. Do you like it?"
So it's actually a nickname?! I didn't know if that was better or worse. And since when have we gotten so familiar that he was making up a nickname for me? Please, it's okay if you leave me out! No one will take me seriously if they hear me get called that!
"No," I said.
"No?" Grisia asked.
"No," I said again.
Fifteen Going on Sixty Going on Fifteen
Common sense was never a strong suit among my companions.
Why should I expect anything different now?
My brother should have left for the forest instead of dedicating almost his entire life to me. When he had first come to find me, he would have never imagined that I would out live him. At most, he probably thought he would only need to keep me company for a few decades, not centuries.
My Sun, in order to protect himself, should have turned Judgment in, but he could never do so, not even when the king's order came down. We weren't even well-established, certainly not to the point of being able to fight the royal family. Yet we did.
My Judgment should have lived for herself and left us behind. Her ties to us had dragged her back to a life she never wanted. She freed Sun and Metal and countless others from a life of slavery, yet she lost her own freedom in exchange, tied down to a system she didn't believe in.
None of them had any common sense. It wasn't any different now. The people who stood before me now weren't the same as those from my memories, yet none of them had any common sense just like them!
New Horizons: That Hero of Mine
"What's to say you won't be disgusted by my appearance?" I asked.
"I, Taylen, do swear upon my name that I won't be disgusted by your appearance," Taylen said with his hand held over his heart, as if that meant anything at all other than the empty promise it was.
Hero of mine, do you really think I haven't realized that Taylen isn't your real name? It must be similar to your actual name, as you respond to it well enough, but even so, you sometimes react a beat too late. Swearing upon that name is meaningless!
But this is amusing! You think you can outsmart me, Grisia? You're a thousand years too early!
I'll humor you, hero of mine. But you better be on your toes, or this isn't going to be any fun at all.
I reached my hand up and ran my fingers along the cold metal of my mask. It was an accessory I had the Cathedral of the Shadow God make for me to keep my identity hidden. The mask lived up to its high price, as I could barely feel it was there. It was that comfortable, and it did its job of hiding my pitch black eyes beautifully.
Slowly, I lifted the mask off and lowered it. I kept my eyes closed, eagerly waiting for Taylen's response. He didn't disappoint.
A soft gasp came from him. Perhaps he was surprised that I had actually given in and taken off the mask, or perhaps it was my appearance under the mask that gave rise to his involuntary exclamation. He moved closer. I could imagine shadows caused by the flames dancing across my face as he scrutinized it, eyes roving across an altogether new sight.
"How are you disfigured?" He asked. "Your face is so smooth. You're not disfigured at all. If you're considered disfigured, then there are no handsome people in this entire world."
I quirked a smile. "Why, are you admiring my looks?"
Taylen barked a laugh at that. "You are so vain, Grisia! But tell me, if it's not that you were disfigured, why have you worn a mask this entire time? And why... are you keeping your eyes closed? Could it be that it's your eyes that were damaged?"
Should I tell him? That would end the current state of the game too soon, but why shouldn't I have my fun? I really wanted to find out how he would respond. Besides, the other adventurers were putting a snag into the original plan. How dare they stop crusading against the Demon King? How dare they get so easily lured away by other riches? I'll show you all how wrong you are!
This entry was originally posted at https://lucathia.dreamwidth.org/369485.html. You can comment here or there.