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lucathiaTitle: Bittersweet Sweetness Part 37
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 2,073
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: Oops, it's been too long again. The problem with taking so long is that I had to reread the story again myself, haha, which means other people probably forgot the story too. Now only 1 part left! *___*
Previous part
My eyes slowly opened on their own, and I found myself staring up at my nondescript ceiling. I turned and glanced around. The sky outside was still somewhat dark, as it was not quite dawn yet, but it was not so dark that I could not see around the room. Wisps of dark hair brushed against my face as I sat up.
I held up my hand, flipping it back and forth. Then, I rubbed my fingers over my calluses and touched my face.
Ah, so we did switch back for good.
Thankfully, I had not woken up on the third morning since our switch to discover that we had not changed back after all. That would have been disappointing and exasperating.
In no time at all, I finished my morning preparations and threw on some black robes, unlike how it would have taken me at least an hour or more to get ready if I had still been Sun. In fact, if I had still been Sun, I would not even be up, as I'd still be sleeping. However, despite sleeping late last night, my body was conditioned to wake up early, so wake up I did.
I lifted an arm and sniffed at myself, wondering if I smelled like daisies. Grisia had wanted me to use the ingredients he'd prepared no matter how much I had argued otherwise.
Last night had been...interesting, to say the least. If anyone had kicked open my door, they would surely have been scared out of their wits by the sight that would have greeted them. Two grown men, one whose face, arms, and body were completely green, and the other whose face, arms, and body were completely yellow. Only the eyes had been left untouched, staring out of the goo intensely, and the hair as well, topping off the goo monsters with a shock of blond and black. We were a much worse spectacle than even rotting undead creatures that Sun liked to vent his stress out on. Thankfully, Blaze had long since gotten bored of kicking my door. Otherwise, I might have to worry for him coming across a yellow monster sipping tea across from a pouting green monster.
I took another sniff. I suppose smelling fresh didn't hurt. It did make me feel cleansed.
As I was actually too early for today's meeting, I decided to head to the Judge's Complex first to make sure everything was in order. I also wanted to review over which criminals had already been taken care of and which still needed to be scheduled for the day. I'd only been away for two days, but it had felt much too long and I was eager to get back to work.
On my way to the Judge's Complex, dawn broke, the sky outside the windows of the corridors gradually growing brighter. My eyes sought out the brightening sky, a sight I often saw, but I felt like I was seeing it with all new eyes.
Which, I guess I was.
I had, after all, been someone else just the day before. Now, I no longer had Sun's sensing ability anymore, so I had to rely once again on my own sight. I had thought the world might look muted after being able to see another dimension to it, but it was beautiful all the same, perhaps even brighter because I didn't have other senses battling for my attention.
A small smile came unbidden to my lips.
As I gazed outside, mesmerized, footsteps stopped near me, and a voice called out, "G...Good morning, Captain!"
Wiping the smile off my face, I turned and gave him a nod. "Good morning, Vidar."
He stood a bit straighter when my gaze landed on him. This was what I was used to from Vidar who always held me in high regard. The indifference he had shown me yesterday had felt strange. It was indeed a good morning to be able to greet my own vice-captain like this again.
Vidar had a stack of documents under his arm. Likely, he had come here to retrieve them before overseeing the platoon's morning training. He had come just in time. I asked, "Vidar, do you have today's interrogation schedule with you?"
He nodded and quickly pulled it out for me. I glanced over it, surprised to see it nearly empty.
I looked up from the schedule at Vidar.
Vidar elucidated the matter immediately. "Captain! Six of the criminals scheduled for today confessed to their sins yesterday evening! We also received a full account of the information we were looking for and were able to make more arrests."
Huh. That didn't often happen.
I gave him a nod. "Good work, Vidar."
Vidar regarded me strangely. Instead of holding himself higher, as he usually did after I praised him, he said, "No, it was nothing, Captain..." In fact, he actually seemed deflate from my words.
Ah, was it Grisia's handiwork, then? If so, then of course Vidar would find my praise to be strange.
Vidar shifted his gaze away from me but then resolutely looked back. He stood up taller again. "I mean, it was all thanks to Captain's perseverance! The way you healed the criminals over and over and kept making them-"
I held a hand up to stop Vidar from speaking further. He was obviously trying to bring himself to praise "me," or at least, what Grisia had done as me, but the mere thought of whatever Grisia had done was already making Vidar green in the face. I could deduce what Vidar was trying to say. Grisia's methods of interrogation had been so frightening that criminals awaiting their own judgment had already caught wind of his methods and decided to confess before their turn.
Vidar looked grateful for getting stopped, but then he glanced up at me with wide (shining?) eyes and asked, "Captain, did you really fly through the sky yesterday?"
...Or maybe it wasn't all Grisia's fault. A flying sword mage for a Judgment Knight was probably enough to send most criminals confessing.
After I explained that Ice had created footholds for me, Vidar actually looked somewhat crestfallen. I hoped he understood that normally, people can't fly. A wind mage might be able to, but I was no wind mage. We talked about the schedule for the day, and then I made my way over to the conference room, pleased to be able to carry out my duties once more. While the break wasn't all bad, purposely staying away any longer would have made me feel even more restless.
The meeting started off normally enough. I walked in with the paperwork that I'd gotten from Vidar, perusing it while I waited. Grisia's questionable interrogation methods were detailed within. I really should award my platoon members for dealing with him. Once everyone arrived, with the exception of Sun (even Storm had shown up, fashionably late), I asked for reports. Most of them reported about the king's address and the clean up that was to follow. Now that the matter of the Death Lord was settled, we no longer needed to have extra knights patrolling the city. Our patrolling schedule was to return to normal.
As the meeting came to a close and we finished reorganizing the patrols, I was about to declare the meeting done.
However, it was then that everyone started talking all at once. I stopped mid-motion of realigning the papers in my hands.
"Sun has been really strange lately..." One of them started to say, and that was enough to get everyone clamoring to say something all at the same time. It did not go unnoticed to me that they snuck glances at me as they shot out their observations. It seemed that Grisia and I had not avoided their suspicions after all.
"His words have been so easy to understand!"
"What was going on with the Death Knight? That guy really had it in for him!"
"They must have been lovers-"
"No, no, the real question is, how did Sun keep his sword in his hand..."
"More importantly, what's with the way he's been walking?"
At that moment, the doors to the conference room burst open, flooding the room with light. Sun walked in with a beaming smile, Divine Sun Sword by his waist. All was truly back to normal.
However, Sun was indeed walking in a funny way. Limping, actually, even though he was hiding it fairly well.
This is why you need more training, Sun. If only he had been diligent in his training, his muscles would not be hurting so much from the sword moves I'd tried to use.
"My dear brothers!" Sun exclaimed. "Sun has just received the God of Light's urging to come with utmost haste. Sun dearly hopes he is not late?"
You're late enough that the meeting is about to end, but you're just in time for the gossiping session, I thought wryly. However, the fact that Sun had even shown up was enough of a surprise. I glanced at everyone's expression, fairly sure they were all thinking, Why did you even bother to show up?
Indeed, why had Sun decided to show up? I caught his gaze. He looked back at me with his bright blue eyes. Instead of his usual fake cheerfulness, his eyes were full of relief. One blink, however, was all it took for him to cover it up.
Ah. Like me, he had probably been restless, and he had probably wanted to make sure that we were both indeed ourselves again.
You are Sun, I tried to convey to him. And you will always be Sun to me, no matter your appearance.
Storm recovered quickly. He circled around Sun. "There's really something strange about you lately," he said, looking Sun up and down.
"You're early again!" Blaze exclaimed.
"Actually showing up for a meeting?" Earth said. "Will wonders never cease?"
Sun shifted. "Now, now, dear brothers, surely you are overthinking things, hm?"
Sun sought my gaze. Have they found us out?
I lifted my shoulders slightly. They're getting suspicious.
Storm was the first to voice his suspicions. "You actually brought the prince in on your plan and didn't try to do everything yourself."
Of course. It's not a good idea to antagonize the royal family for no reason.
"I can't believe that you stuck to your sword nearly the entire time yesterday!" Earth added.
Of course. I would not be able to keep up with Roland otherwise.
"Are you turning into an early riser?" Blaze asked, eyes shining. "We can spar in the morning then!"
At the word "spar," Sun's eyebrows creased.
Ah, that's right, Blaze did say he wanted to spar with Sun... I had forgotten to tell him about it.
"Really, you've been strangely... reliable lately," Storm muttered, eyes glancing over at me as he spoke. It seemed that they were coming closer and closer to the truth.
"It's not what you think," Sun began to say. "Judgment and I didn't..."
Done with their observations, no accusations, of Sun, they now turned to me. Ice said, "Judgment, you used magic yesterday."
That was all Grisia.
"Captain Judgment, you crushed those undead so ferociously!" Metal nearly swooned.
Wait... Metal's reaction... wasn't quite what I was expecting. Don't tell me, they think...
Moon had on a grin as he said, "You know, it's really strange that Judgment's paperwork smelled like lavender. And that he himself smells fresh today."
"...I heard Judgment talking about facial masks," Cloud contributed. "From Sun's room."
Alarmed, Sun protested, "It's really not what you think! I just had Judgment try out facial masks, okay? He has all those wrinkles! I know we probably should have told you, I mean Judgment wanted us to, but I-"
They completely ignored Sun's protests. I was too speechless to say anything, as I'd finally realized what they were insinuating, and Sun was totally misunderstanding and digging an even deeper hole for us.
"And the way Sun has been walking so stiffly!"
"Didn't you see him exit from Judgment's room? I did! They've been frequenting each other's rooms!"
"Also, he's been holding that area near his pelvis. Suspicious much?"
That was more near the stomach... because of the trinket...
I held my head with my hands. It seemed that Grisia had also finally come to the same conclusion I had made. His jaws dropped. He snapped his head to look at me in astonishment. And horror.
Storm patted Sun on the shoulder and cheerfully said, "We always knew Judgment would make an upstanding man out of you! Congratulations! But don't corrupt Judgment too much!"
"Bastards! We did nothing of the sort!" Sun immediately shouted. Amazingly, he managed to make the table shake, but it was too heavy for him to flip.
Perhaps I should have slept in after all.
to be continued
I have no excuses for what I wrote, hahahaha.
One part left. Thanks for coming along with the ride. ♥
Next part
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 2,073
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: Oops, it's been too long again. The problem with taking so long is that I had to reread the story again myself, haha, which means other people probably forgot the story too. Now only 1 part left! *___*
Previous part
Part 37: Judgment
My eyes slowly opened on their own, and I found myself staring up at my nondescript ceiling. I turned and glanced around. The sky outside was still somewhat dark, as it was not quite dawn yet, but it was not so dark that I could not see around the room. Wisps of dark hair brushed against my face as I sat up.
I held up my hand, flipping it back and forth. Then, I rubbed my fingers over my calluses and touched my face.
Ah, so we did switch back for good.
Thankfully, I had not woken up on the third morning since our switch to discover that we had not changed back after all. That would have been disappointing and exasperating.
In no time at all, I finished my morning preparations and threw on some black robes, unlike how it would have taken me at least an hour or more to get ready if I had still been Sun. In fact, if I had still been Sun, I would not even be up, as I'd still be sleeping. However, despite sleeping late last night, my body was conditioned to wake up early, so wake up I did.
I lifted an arm and sniffed at myself, wondering if I smelled like daisies. Grisia had wanted me to use the ingredients he'd prepared no matter how much I had argued otherwise.
Last night had been...interesting, to say the least. If anyone had kicked open my door, they would surely have been scared out of their wits by the sight that would have greeted them. Two grown men, one whose face, arms, and body were completely green, and the other whose face, arms, and body were completely yellow. Only the eyes had been left untouched, staring out of the goo intensely, and the hair as well, topping off the goo monsters with a shock of blond and black. We were a much worse spectacle than even rotting undead creatures that Sun liked to vent his stress out on. Thankfully, Blaze had long since gotten bored of kicking my door. Otherwise, I might have to worry for him coming across a yellow monster sipping tea across from a pouting green monster.
I took another sniff. I suppose smelling fresh didn't hurt. It did make me feel cleansed.
As I was actually too early for today's meeting, I decided to head to the Judge's Complex first to make sure everything was in order. I also wanted to review over which criminals had already been taken care of and which still needed to be scheduled for the day. I'd only been away for two days, but it had felt much too long and I was eager to get back to work.
On my way to the Judge's Complex, dawn broke, the sky outside the windows of the corridors gradually growing brighter. My eyes sought out the brightening sky, a sight I often saw, but I felt like I was seeing it with all new eyes.
Which, I guess I was.
I had, after all, been someone else just the day before. Now, I no longer had Sun's sensing ability anymore, so I had to rely once again on my own sight. I had thought the world might look muted after being able to see another dimension to it, but it was beautiful all the same, perhaps even brighter because I didn't have other senses battling for my attention.
A small smile came unbidden to my lips.
As I gazed outside, mesmerized, footsteps stopped near me, and a voice called out, "G...Good morning, Captain!"
Wiping the smile off my face, I turned and gave him a nod. "Good morning, Vidar."
He stood a bit straighter when my gaze landed on him. This was what I was used to from Vidar who always held me in high regard. The indifference he had shown me yesterday had felt strange. It was indeed a good morning to be able to greet my own vice-captain like this again.
Vidar had a stack of documents under his arm. Likely, he had come here to retrieve them before overseeing the platoon's morning training. He had come just in time. I asked, "Vidar, do you have today's interrogation schedule with you?"
He nodded and quickly pulled it out for me. I glanced over it, surprised to see it nearly empty.
I looked up from the schedule at Vidar.
Vidar elucidated the matter immediately. "Captain! Six of the criminals scheduled for today confessed to their sins yesterday evening! We also received a full account of the information we were looking for and were able to make more arrests."
Huh. That didn't often happen.
I gave him a nod. "Good work, Vidar."
Vidar regarded me strangely. Instead of holding himself higher, as he usually did after I praised him, he said, "No, it was nothing, Captain..." In fact, he actually seemed deflate from my words.
Ah, was it Grisia's handiwork, then? If so, then of course Vidar would find my praise to be strange.
Vidar shifted his gaze away from me but then resolutely looked back. He stood up taller again. "I mean, it was all thanks to Captain's perseverance! The way you healed the criminals over and over and kept making them-"
I held a hand up to stop Vidar from speaking further. He was obviously trying to bring himself to praise "me," or at least, what Grisia had done as me, but the mere thought of whatever Grisia had done was already making Vidar green in the face. I could deduce what Vidar was trying to say. Grisia's methods of interrogation had been so frightening that criminals awaiting their own judgment had already caught wind of his methods and decided to confess before their turn.
Vidar looked grateful for getting stopped, but then he glanced up at me with wide (shining?) eyes and asked, "Captain, did you really fly through the sky yesterday?"
...Or maybe it wasn't all Grisia's fault. A flying sword mage for a Judgment Knight was probably enough to send most criminals confessing.
After I explained that Ice had created footholds for me, Vidar actually looked somewhat crestfallen. I hoped he understood that normally, people can't fly. A wind mage might be able to, but I was no wind mage. We talked about the schedule for the day, and then I made my way over to the conference room, pleased to be able to carry out my duties once more. While the break wasn't all bad, purposely staying away any longer would have made me feel even more restless.
The meeting started off normally enough. I walked in with the paperwork that I'd gotten from Vidar, perusing it while I waited. Grisia's questionable interrogation methods were detailed within. I really should award my platoon members for dealing with him. Once everyone arrived, with the exception of Sun (even Storm had shown up, fashionably late), I asked for reports. Most of them reported about the king's address and the clean up that was to follow. Now that the matter of the Death Lord was settled, we no longer needed to have extra knights patrolling the city. Our patrolling schedule was to return to normal.
As the meeting came to a close and we finished reorganizing the patrols, I was about to declare the meeting done.
However, it was then that everyone started talking all at once. I stopped mid-motion of realigning the papers in my hands.
"Sun has been really strange lately..." One of them started to say, and that was enough to get everyone clamoring to say something all at the same time. It did not go unnoticed to me that they snuck glances at me as they shot out their observations. It seemed that Grisia and I had not avoided their suspicions after all.
"His words have been so easy to understand!"
"What was going on with the Death Knight? That guy really had it in for him!"
"They must have been lovers-"
"No, no, the real question is, how did Sun keep his sword in his hand..."
"More importantly, what's with the way he's been walking?"
At that moment, the doors to the conference room burst open, flooding the room with light. Sun walked in with a beaming smile, Divine Sun Sword by his waist. All was truly back to normal.
However, Sun was indeed walking in a funny way. Limping, actually, even though he was hiding it fairly well.
This is why you need more training, Sun. If only he had been diligent in his training, his muscles would not be hurting so much from the sword moves I'd tried to use.
"My dear brothers!" Sun exclaimed. "Sun has just received the God of Light's urging to come with utmost haste. Sun dearly hopes he is not late?"
You're late enough that the meeting is about to end, but you're just in time for the gossiping session, I thought wryly. However, the fact that Sun had even shown up was enough of a surprise. I glanced at everyone's expression, fairly sure they were all thinking, Why did you even bother to show up?
Indeed, why had Sun decided to show up? I caught his gaze. He looked back at me with his bright blue eyes. Instead of his usual fake cheerfulness, his eyes were full of relief. One blink, however, was all it took for him to cover it up.
Ah. Like me, he had probably been restless, and he had probably wanted to make sure that we were both indeed ourselves again.
You are Sun, I tried to convey to him. And you will always be Sun to me, no matter your appearance.
Storm recovered quickly. He circled around Sun. "There's really something strange about you lately," he said, looking Sun up and down.
"You're early again!" Blaze exclaimed.
"Actually showing up for a meeting?" Earth said. "Will wonders never cease?"
Sun shifted. "Now, now, dear brothers, surely you are overthinking things, hm?"
Sun sought my gaze. Have they found us out?
I lifted my shoulders slightly. They're getting suspicious.
Storm was the first to voice his suspicions. "You actually brought the prince in on your plan and didn't try to do everything yourself."
Of course. It's not a good idea to antagonize the royal family for no reason.
"I can't believe that you stuck to your sword nearly the entire time yesterday!" Earth added.
Of course. I would not be able to keep up with Roland otherwise.
"Are you turning into an early riser?" Blaze asked, eyes shining. "We can spar in the morning then!"
At the word "spar," Sun's eyebrows creased.
Ah, that's right, Blaze did say he wanted to spar with Sun... I had forgotten to tell him about it.
"Really, you've been strangely... reliable lately," Storm muttered, eyes glancing over at me as he spoke. It seemed that they were coming closer and closer to the truth.
"It's not what you think," Sun began to say. "Judgment and I didn't..."
Done with their observations, no accusations, of Sun, they now turned to me. Ice said, "Judgment, you used magic yesterday."
That was all Grisia.
"Captain Judgment, you crushed those undead so ferociously!" Metal nearly swooned.
Wait... Metal's reaction... wasn't quite what I was expecting. Don't tell me, they think...
Moon had on a grin as he said, "You know, it's really strange that Judgment's paperwork smelled like lavender. And that he himself smells fresh today."
"...I heard Judgment talking about facial masks," Cloud contributed. "From Sun's room."
Alarmed, Sun protested, "It's really not what you think! I just had Judgment try out facial masks, okay? He has all those wrinkles! I know we probably should have told you, I mean Judgment wanted us to, but I-"
They completely ignored Sun's protests. I was too speechless to say anything, as I'd finally realized what they were insinuating, and Sun was totally misunderstanding and digging an even deeper hole for us.
"And the way Sun has been walking so stiffly!"
"Didn't you see him exit from Judgment's room? I did! They've been frequenting each other's rooms!"
"Also, he's been holding that area near his pelvis. Suspicious much?"
That was more near the stomach... because of the trinket...
I held my head with my hands. It seemed that Grisia had also finally come to the same conclusion I had made. His jaws dropped. He snapped his head to look at me in astonishment. And horror.
Storm patted Sun on the shoulder and cheerfully said, "We always knew Judgment would make an upstanding man out of you! Congratulations! But don't corrupt Judgment too much!"
"Bastards! We did nothing of the sort!" Sun immediately shouted. Amazingly, he managed to make the table shake, but it was too heavy for him to flip.
Perhaps I should have slept in after all.
to be continued
I have no excuses for what I wrote, hahahaha.
One part left. Thanks for coming along with the ride. ♥
Next part
