[personal profile] lucathia
Title: Bittersweet Sweetness Part 24
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 1,647
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 really wish it worked out so that this section was in Judgment's POV. This is too close to the novels for my preference, but I tried to write things a little differently.

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Part 24 - Sun

Roland's words echoed in my ears.

Grisia, like promised, I have come to find you.

His voice sounded calm and peaceful, like what I thought he should have sounded like in life had I gotten to know the adult Roland. He had always had a steady personality, like an immovable boulder that could never be swayed by the current around him. I thought that I would never hear his voice in such peace ever again, not with the way he had tossed his words down, eyes blazing with cold flames, claiming that he would be back for me...but this current calmness and peacefulness could only be a lie.

Roland was dead. His existence as a death lord meant that Roland did not feel at peace. He had unfinished business; otherwise, he would not be here. Had he returned because of hatred for me, for taking the position that he had been much more qualified for? It would explain why he was so intent on seeking me out even though I was not the one who had killed him.

I swallowed. If I didn't turn around, I could almost pretend that Roland wasn't dead, that I hadn't failed him. What kind of friend was I? What kind of friend let their friend die all alone? I'd wanted to become the Sun Knight to protect my brothers; I'd wanted Roland to be one of them even when I had been too naïve to realize that it wasn't possible. I'd wanted all of that, yet I let Roland walk out of my life. I had failed him. And now he was dead.

Death was irreversible.

No. I felt holy magic course through me. Not completely. Death isn't absolute. There is a way. If only I had known Resurrection. If only I had been by his side. If only...

Gently, Lesus placed his hand on my arm, guiding me back.

I raised my gaze to lock eyes on him, grateful that he had pulled me out of my tangle of thoughts. It was true that Resurrection could have brought Roland back, but now it was too late even for that. Now was not the time to lose myself in what-ifs, to run away from reality. Roland was behind me. Whatever state of mind he was currently in, that was the Roland I had to face.

Slowly, I turned around. When I laid eyes on Roland, I immediately blurted, "You...were resurrected?"

Right away, I wanted to slap myself. No matter how much I wished Roland could have been resurrected, no one had been there for Roland to resurrect him, and death knights, not to mention death lords, could not be resurrected since they were already undead creatures. Besides, I was currently Judgment, which meant this kind of sudden exclamation was entirely out of character. Not that it was in character for the Sun Knight either, but Roland had only ever known "Grisia" and hadn't ever known the Sun Knight persona I had later crafted. He wouldn't have been surprised by such a statement from me. But from Judgment...

It really wasn't my fault though. I hadn't been prepared for Roland to look so human. He looked much less suspicious with his nondescript brown hair and eyes than the two of us who were wearing hooded cloaks. Seeing him like this, however, was like being punched in the gut, what I could not have thrown back in my face.

If I had kept in touch with him, this was the man I would have gotten to known. He hadn't lost a single bit of his charisma, practically unchanged from the boy I remembered, except he was of course taller than before, and must have gone through quite a growth spurt at some point in time. Surprisingly, we were just about eye-level when I remembered having to raise my eyes to look at him when we were younger.

Oh right, I'm Judgment, duh. That meant Roland was actually slightly taller than me. How unfair...

"No, I didn't get resurrected," Roland answered in a serious tone. He had always been too serious for his own good, hence why I always liked to prod him to see if he could actually smile or crack a joke. He tilted his head, eyes darting between Lesus and me. "Is this a bad time? Should I return later?"

That sounded like the polite Roland I had known. I was very, very confused. Why did Roland look so human? Why was he acting so human? Where had his wings gone? I mean, they were so huge! There was no way he could be hiding those under his clothes! And what happened to his ashen coloring? Or those flames he had for eyes? What happened to the fury I had heard in his words and seen in his attacks?

I turned and whispered to Lesus. "I'm not hallucinating, am I?"

"Don't ask me to pinch you," Lesus replied. "You're not hallucinating."

In a louder voice, Lesus said to Roland, "If you are here to speak with me, there is nothing you can't say to me that can't be said in front of Judgment."

"Why do you look so human?" I blurted almost before Lesus had even finished speaking. I was still unable to get over this fact.

"You are much more spontaneous than I've heard," commented Roland, brows furrowed, but he darted a look at Lesus, as if to seek his approval, and then he answered me by raising his hand and showing us the pink, heart-shaped ring he was wearing. It looked completely cheap and girly. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing it... Ah, but Roland is dead. I tried to recall if Roland had ever paid much attention to fashion and appearances. I don't think he did.

Roland glanced at the ring, his face impassive. "This is the Ring of Life. It allows me to assume the appearance of a human."

I really shouldn't have been surprised that such a cheap-looking ring could grant Roland the appearance of a human being. After all, the harmless-looking trinket Pink had tossed at me yesterday had even been capable of forcing me out of my own body and into another's! Trinkets nowadays seriously didn't look the part enough. Shouldn't they at least look more impressive? Like a silver-plated dragon badge or something similar? But no, they came in pink. Heart-shaped even.

"That is something of Pink's?" questioned Lesus.

"Yes," Roland replied cooperatively. Why was he being so pliant? I thought he wanted to kill me? Should I be worried for Lesus right now? If Roland went on a rampage, Lesus would probably be the first to get stabbed.

"Is your sword also one of Pink's?" continued Lesus as he eyed the sword by Roland's waist. That was the sword that had sent me to my bed for days, and that same sword had injured Lesus, or actually, Lesus in my body, and Ice.

"No, it is a family heirloom, one I never wished to use for it is a wicked sword."

Something about that statement was off, but I didn't have time to examine it. Roland had drawn his sword out as he spoke.

Immediately, I gathered holy light, the light shining around the blueberry pie I was still holding, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lesus place his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"There are two of us here," I said in warning, as imposing as I could make myself while holding blueberry pie. "Don't think you can defeat two Knight-Captains by yourself, especially when we are both armed with holy light in addition to our weapons. We won't hold back."

Roland was damn strong and could even summon undead creatures to back him up -- we had had a hard time against him even when Blaze, Ice, and a bunch of our platoon members were around to help -- but I wasn't going to let him think that he could take us on easily.

"I am not here for a fight," Roland murmured, not at all cowed by our battle-ready stances. "I merely wish to finish the duel between Grisia and me. We were interrupted before we finished."

I exchanged a glance with Lesus. Is he for real? I thought. A second later, I realized that yeah, Roland meant every word he had spoken. He was just that kind of guy, the type who saw his promises through to the end, the type who regarded duels with great respect. It seemed that even death had not changed him, though it had dulled his fashion sense even more than before. With a flick of my eyes and a small nod, I indicated to Lesus that Roland was speaking the truth.

After our silent communication, Lesus said, "I accept, but only if you promise me one thing."

It was as if Lesus and I had rehearsed this, and in some ways, we had, though not this exact situation. Yesterday night, we had come up with all sorts of behaviors Roland might choose to take and how we would respond. I didn't entirely think Roland would be the Roland I knew, so I didn't know how much my understanding of that Roland would help us, but so far, this Roland who stood before me was so achingly familiar.

"What is it?" Roland asked in reply. I thought he sounded even somewhat friendly. Duels were definitely his thing. This could actually work.

"If I win the duel, you will listen to what we have to say," Lesus said.

Roland fell silent. "And if I win?"

"We will listen to what you have to say."

While they spoke, they began circling each other. Step-by-step, I backed away out of range.

"I accept," Roland said.

Swords ready, my two friends flew at each other, their blades clashing in my ears.

-----
to be continued

...guys, can't you just skip the duel and just listen to each other? No? I guess not. =P

I've always wondered how Sun learned Resurrection all of a sudden like that at the end of volume 1. I've decided that he learned Resurrection most likely because he had a desire to know (given how much he hates harm coming to those he cares about). He doesn't have the means to learn Resurrection yet in this fic though because he hasn't learned necromancy spells from Pink.

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