![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lucathiaYay, it's finally done~. I've been working on this for months. It just wouldn't end... :'D
Title: New Horizons -That Which Was Lost-
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 5,711
Summary: After Grisia was lost with only the Divine Sun Sword left behind, he was never found. Until Lesus comes across an "amnesic" Grisia while evacuating the citizens. AU
Notes: For the![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
whole_new_world Alternate Reality/Changing Canon prompt "Never Found." Prompt table over here. This piece is somewhat experimental, though only on the surface, as its final form is simply another fic in which Lesus and Grisia sit around talking. So yeah. They talk. A lot. I also smush together some displaced events that kind of still happen but in a different way. Lesus/Grisia. Or very strong hints~, with a good dose of angst.
"Might I buy you a drink?" I asked.
He angled his body my way, not even giving me a glance. It confirmed what I had been afraid of. He had truly forgotten (hasn't he?), or else he never would have dropped the pretense of his eyes being fine, of things being okay.
It was disconcerting.
Or, it could be that he...
"You again?" He made a face. Mug empty, it thumped on the table as he placed it down. "You're not trying to hit on me, are you? Look, first of all, I'm not a girl, and second of all, that's a terribly clichéd pick up line."
I gestured at the empty mug on the table. "Terrible or not, your mug is empty."
"An astounding observation," came his dry retort. "I never would have noticed."
I couldn't help the corner of my lips lifting up at that, even though my heart ached at the same time. How familiar the banter yet foreign all the same. How has it come to this?
I shook myself out of my thoughts, waving the bartender over. The bartender gave me a scared look but complied in the end. I could only ignore his obvious fright. "A drink, if you will, for this man here."
"Hey! I didn't say I wanted that drink," he complained.
"Since when have you ever refused a drink, Grisia?" I deliberately asked. Is there normalcy still to be found?
At my use of his name, he paused, mouth turning downward, but he gave nothing else away. Instead of commenting about the name drop, he said, "Just because you've been stalking me doesn't mean you know me."
Ah, but I do. I did.
Despite what he said, Grisia took me up on that drink, finally knocking some sense into this disorienting world, giving me hope.
As I walked over, Vidar saluted me and gave me a summary of how the evacuation was coming along. I surveyed the scene, watching our men herd over the refugees from the Kingdom of Kissinger. Like lost sheep, arose an absurd thought that didn't sound like me at all. It sounded more like an observation Grisia would have made. I sobered at the thought. Lost sheep, huh? We are all... lost sheep. And I was one of them.
The evacuation was proceeding in the sense that people were following our orders despite not being our citizens, but it wasn't quick enough. The lands of darkness were expanding by the day, and we were already running out of space at several refugee sites.
We really couldn't afford for this stalemate to continue. It was why the Twelve Holy Knights had been sent out to help with the evacuation, with our teachers holding down the fort back at the Holy Temple, though in reality, our main task was to look for our missing leader.
"Arrange for more tents," I told Vidar. "There are still open grounds to the southeast."
Vidar hesitated but ultimately did not question my command. "Yes, Captain!" He hurried off to see to my orders. I understood his hesitation. The southeast was too close to the Kissinger border where the largest lands of darkness were spreading.
However, it was exactly that proximity that would prove useful in hustling over the refugees, giving them a place to rest their feet before we moved them to a more permanent camp. A perfect solution it was not, but in times like these, one couldn't wish for perfection, only sufficiency.
Furthermore, the Cathedral of the Shadow God had divined that the Kissinger border would be the location of the Demon King's birth, and thus it would be the place most in need of evacuation.
Out of the corner of my eye, a flash of blond caught my attention. I jerked my head. Was that...? I scanned the crowds. I thought I had seen...
"Captain?" one of my holy knights asked, pulling my attention back.
"It is nothing," I eventually said. A lingering glance showed me nothing that I wanted to see. Blond hair was not uncommon. I had merely gotten my hopes up. "Proceed."
"You buy me a drink, and you're not even drinking?" Grisia asked, downing his own. "It feels weird if I'm the only one drinking. Creepy even, with you watching me like that."
"I don't drink," I answered simply, the answer coming to me unbidden, eyes still trained on him. What need is there for wine when I would rather drink in the sight of him instead? But perhaps, when it all came down to it, I was just afraid, afraid that I would lose sight of him if I pulled my eyes away even for a second, and he would be gone once more.
He was, thankfully, in good health as far as I could tell, though the loose robes he wore, so strange to see on him, made it difficult to determine if he had lost any weight. His face was, however, thinner than I felt it should be, with an almost imperceivable thread of stress lining his brows. It would be hard to see upon first glance if I weren't so used to looking for tells...
If I weren't so used to... looking for tells...?
He put his drink down. "Seriously? What is someone like you even doing in a tavern then? Don't tell me it was to follow me? Now you're really being stalkerish."
When I didn't answer, his jaw dropped open.
"Really? You're really stalking me? Come on, I already told you! Whitey is my unicorn! I didn't steal him! In fact, he's the one who keeps tagging along. I can't get rid of him even if I wanted to. You can't arrest me for that."
I couldn't help chuckling. "You named a black unicorn Whitey?"
"Hey, I didn't name him. That is his name. He told me."
"The unicorn told you?" I asked dryly.
"Duh, who else could have told me?"
I snorted. His logic was just so absurd, but I wouldn't put it past him to be able to communicate with a unicorn. He, however, interpreted my mirth a completely different way.
He sniffed and turned his head away. "Fine, be that way. It's not like I need you to believe me."
I sobered. Wasn't there a time when my belief in him mattered more than anything, when he had been so angry that I'd said I believed the evidence over his innocence?
It felt like ages ago, a nearly forgotten memory. I wasn't even sure if I remembered correctly.
"No, I'm not here about the unicorn."
I charged forward, dispatching a skeleton that had been chasing after a boy. The boy in question was huddled on the ground, curled up into a ball with his arms hugging his head. When the coast was clear, he lifted an arm and peeked out.
"Stay with the group," I told him.
"M-my friend.... she's still out there!" the boy whimpered.
So that's why he broke off from the group.
While it was commendable that he wished to save his friend, he was only endangering himself and causing more trouble by going off on his own, something I was all too familiar with regarding a certain someone.
"You'll be doing no one any good if you get yourself killed. Run along now. I'll find her." While a little girl shouldn't be difficult to spot, I still asked to give him the illusion of helping, "What does she look like?"
"Um, she's about this tall," he said, lifting a hand to his chin, "with pigtails. She's wearing a red dress."
I nodded, exchanging a glance with my platoon members to have them take the boy to safety, and for the rest to join me ahead. Then, I turned to follow the path of destruction left by the undead creatures. They were definitely not even the least bit subtle, with no care of what traces they might leave behind. In some ways, I preferred dealing with overt foes like these more than the sly criminals I dealt with on a daily basis. The destruction these undead creatures caused was straightforward, as opposed to the damage wrought by human nature.
But death and destruction would always be a hard sight to swallow.
There were thankfully no little girls dressed in red among the fallen. I kept moving, lending a hand to two villagers who were still breathing. My platoon members cast healing spells to the best of their abilities, enough for the villagers to stand and limp to safety. The clerics back at the camp would be able to see to the rest of their injuries, though their hands were full with the more critically injured.
I moved on ahead.
"Captain! There's a girl—"
I rushed forward, sword already drawn. There were two undead creatures to her left and right, looking to be death knights, but I wasn't certain. They were definitely not the kind of death knight that could be found in any textbook of ours.
I almost couldn't see her, as she was dwarfed by the towering undead flanking her, but the bright red of her hair ribbons drew my eyes to where she stood. There was something odd about how still she was—she wasn't trembling or even making any attempt at fleeing—but even as that thought ran through my mind my sword flew faster, slamming into the death knight closest to me. It was only then that she finally moved, but it wasn't to jump into the arms of the judgment knights rushing over to rescue her. Instead, it was to pivot and glare at me, before she then began tossing dark blades at me.
I leaped backward and dodged, eyes narrowing. No wonder she had made no attempt to flee, and it wasn't because she had been frightened to the point of immobility.
This was no friend of the little boy's, unless his friend was a necromancer. From afar she had seemed to be a normal girl, but in close proximity even I could detect the rivulets of dark element oozing from her, and that wasn't something that could be overlooked in this land overrun by the dark element. Her dark element overpowered even the dense concentration of dark element that surrounded us. Perhaps she was even some kind of undead creature, such as a witch, but something told me she was nothing so simple.
"I won't let you take him," she warned. He's not yours to take! I won't hand him over!
I clutched my head, the ground suddenly too close. Cries of "Captain!" only made a sharp pain seize me, and the thump, thump, thump that followed clued me in that my platoon members had been hit with the same attack, each of them collapsing.
Meanwhile, the death knight that I had struck pulled itself up to the tune of her voice, rushing forward with no care for itself. The other death knight followed closely on its heels, striking at me in tandem. I forced my arm up even as I clutched my head with the other and blocked them, only to see the little girl swing herself onto a black horse—no, a unicorn—that had just galloped over from behind the trees.
I looked over through eyes I could barely open amidst the pain, and that was when one of the death knights stabbed me in the stomach, but I couldn't help my inattention, for there he stood behind the trees, hidden from the sun, a lurking shadow that stole all thought from me. It was no wonder we hadn't been able to find him, with how he blended right into the shadows when we had been seeking our guiding light instead. It might have been the pain making me see things, but that didn't stop the flare of hope that threatened to suffocate me.
"S-Sun!" I shouted.
He did not even glance my way, as if that was not his name. Rather, it was the little girl who gave me a glare seething with hatred, while the unicorn galloped in the direction of my long lost friend.
I shoved the death knight away from me, blood gushing from my wound as the foe's sword tore from my flesh. I put all my strength into my next swing to make sure both death knights stayed down. I pressed down on the wound, staggering forward, but by the time I could look up again, he was no longer there.
I cleared my throat, wishing he would turn my way. "I'm here for you."
He laughed sharply in disbelief. "And you say you're not hitting on me? You're giving me goosebumps. Hey bartender, give this guy some tea or something so he can stop staring at me."
He pushed his chair back, as if to leave, scaring the bartender so much that he'd stopped wiping his glass, unwilling to be left alone with me, but my hand darted out before I knew it. I held Grisia's wrist, his flesh warm below my cold fingers. Even then, he didn't look at me. He tugged once, but I held on tightly.
"Grisia, don't run away," I said.
"Let go," he warned.
How can I let go? I couldn't. If I could, I wouldn't be here.
We found the right girl, in the end. She was wearing a red dress, like the boy had claimed, and had her hair tied up with ribbons in what had possibly been pigtails before the carefully done hairdo had been thrown into disarray. She was face down, her little body too still, her red dress too startling red—from blood.
The clerics fell upon me when we returned, gasping at the sight of my blood drenched clothes. I wanted to wave them off, but a bout of lightheadedness brought me to my knees, and I could only let them fuss over me when there were still so many citizens who needed their aid more than I did.
I had lost too much blood. The hasty healing spells on the way back could only do so much.
I braced myself, letting their warm, soothing healing spells fall upon my wounds. But even as my flesh knitted itself back together, the pain in my head and heart remained.
Beyond the clerics, a young face stood out. The boy bit his lips, eyes darting around, never landing on me for long. I must be a ghastly sight, drenched in blood, but more than that, it was the answer he was afraid of. I could hardly fault him for that.
All I could do was hand him a ribbon and watch as tears welled in his eyes.
"Grisia, don't run away," I said again, unwilling to let go. "Open your eyes."
"This wound will take several days to heal completely, sir," one of the clerics said. "Um, please rest for today."
I gave a nod, pulling my shirt back down, already formulating ideas. The journey back had given me plenty of time to think, to piece together the clues. The next town beyond the forest was not yet evacuated. The necromancer was likely to have gone there, given the path she had taken when she had fled. Where she went, he was likely to be, considering my suspicions about her identity.
If only I had told Grisia about his candidacy, perhaps he would have been better prepared and would not have gone missing. But what ifs did us little good.
After nightfall, I pulled myself up from my bedroll, lifting the flap of the tent and exiting. I adjusted my cloak and untied a horse. I had already rested long enough. If I rested any longer, there was no telling if I would be able to find them there.
I had to be quick. I had to get Grisia away from her.
He snorted. "Open my eyes? You're the one who told me to do so. Don't run away screaming now."
After saying that, he finally opened his eyes, which he had kept closed this entire time. The bartender sucked in a breath at the sight, having obviously been listening in to our conversation.
My breath hitched for a moment too, the bright blue I had been expecting nowhere to be seen. Instead, what greeted me was an expanse of black that spread even to the edge of his eyes, just as black as his hair.
Grisia growled and snapped his eyes shut again. With a show of strength I had not expected, he wrenched his hand out of my grasp. I already missed the warmth.
"See, I told you—"
"Did I run away screaming?" I cut in. "Out of the two of us, I bet I'm the scarier one. That bartender over there would agree. Open your eyes."
"Who do you think you are to command me?" Grisia bit out, but even as he complained, he opened his eyes again, finally turning to face me head on.
Upon first glance, I had only seen how dark his eyes were, but they weren't purely black.
"There's a bit of golden light in your eyes, like a starry night," I whispered, hand reaching out to brush back a lock of his black hair so I could see better. "They're astonishing."
Just as astonishing as that night sky I had seen upon opening my eyes again.
"Astonishing?" Grisia laughed but didn't swat my hand away. "That's the first time I've ever heard anyone describe them that way."
She was not alone, instead surrounded by undead creatures, but neither the black unicorn nor Grisia were in sight. I slowed my horse down, about to turn away to seek Grisia elsewhere, but from the turn of her head, I surmised that she must have already been alerted to my presence.
All at once, the fastest of the undead creatures by her side shot out, biting at the legs of my horse. My horse whinnied and reared up, kicking the undead creatures away from her. I grabbed her mane, trying to prevent myself from getting thrown off.
"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" The girl said and walked forward, the undead creatures parting the way for her. "Was the warning this afternoon not enough?"
My horse snorted, foot pawing the ground. I patted her on the neck, never taking my eyes off of the necromancer in front of me. She was still my best lead to Grisia.
"Are you Scarlet?" I asked, nearly one hundred percent certain that she had to be the lich that Neo had mentioned, the one that had tried to take Grisia away all those years ago. She hadn't managed it back then, but here she was now, bending Grisia to her will.
The girl narrowed her eyes at me. "So you know my name. Then you must know what I am? How brave of you to seek me out all by yourself, Judgment Knight!"
She followed her words up with an attack, several undead creatures pouncing forward. Cutting down the undead creatures was useless, as she summoned more after they fell. I would have to deal with the source, with her, if I wanted to stop them.
Will removing her help Grisia? If she is controlling him...
If not, I could not imagine that Grisia wouldn't return on his own.
I leaned forward, urging my horse to take us charging at the girl as I sliced through the undead creatures swarming us. I could not give the necromancer any time to gather more of her magic, to hit me with anything else other than the undead creatures she commanded. If a repeat of the afternoon were to happen, if she were to attack me with her voice again, I—
I crumpled in pain, toppling forward, hand scrambling to seize the mane of my horse but failing to do so. Dread seized me as I suddenly recalled what I had told the little boy earlier in the day. You'll be doing no one any good if you get yourself killed.
I had warned him not to run off to save his friend on his own. Aren't I doing the same thing?
Never again confuse my child, Judgment Knight!
The ground rushed up to meet me. Pain exploded in my neck.
I should not have come alone.
My tea arrived in a wine glass, served to me via trembling hands. The bartender set it down, the liquid nearly sloshing his hands in his haste before he then quickly retreated.
"My thanks," I told him, taking the glass he had procured for me. In times as trying as these, one couldn't be particular about the type of cup one's tea came in, nor could one fault a bartender for his nerves.
"Huh, he took me seriously," Grisia said.
"It's obvious he takes utmost pride in his job," I responded. "Whether he's serving wine or tea."
Or someone like me.
The entire village was quite empty, with few shops left open. Most had evacuated. He could very well have skipped out on serving anyone at all, but here the bartender was, still going at his job despite the looming doom that awaited us all.
I took a sip, the tea unfortunately bland, like everything else ever since. But it was soothing and warm. I took a bigger gulp, the tea warming me up.
"Well, now we're even," Grisia said. "You got me a drink. I got you a drink. Even. Bye."
"Grisia," I said to stop him, the tea giving me courage, the last push I needed. It was going to hurt to rip apart this charade, but I was prepared to do so. When I looked over at him, he had his back facing me. He was already halfway to the door. I couldn't let him walk out like this.
"Sun," I tried, the name nearly foreign yet so familiar, "you remember, don't you?"
Cold.
It was cold.
My entire body shuddered. I opened my eyes. The dark, night sky stretched on and on, not even broken by moonlight. I stared into the abyss, lost and alone, but it was then that a faint pulse of light drew my attention. The inky sky was not without stars, after all.
I followed the faint light, mesmerized, and rolled to my side, my entire back aching, only to be greeted by the sight of a long-haired figure. He had his hands to his face, inky black locks tangled in his fingers, his shoulders shaking minutely as he rocked himself back and forth, mumbling something over and over that I couldn't entirely make out.
"Gri—" I started to say but stopped. The rest of the name wouldn't come to me. I shook my head, trying to dislodge the cobwebs miring my thoughts.
He startled, his entire body stilling.
I know you, don't I?
I knew him, yet I could not... No, besides that...
Who am I?
He stilled, just like then, when I had almost called his name but couldn't. It had taken me some time to remember, my memories jumbled upon waking, allowing him to run away and play pretend. But this pretense couldn't go on any longer. Even now, my memories were still a maze, but I sorted enough of them out to know that I shouldn't have let him out of my sight that night. I of course sought him out afterwards, but all he did was run, each and every time.
"Don't call me that," he finally said, voice quiet. "I'm not Sun."
"Just because you don't have blond hair and blue eyes?" I asked.
I got up, angling my back away from the counter, careful not to bump into it, and stepped closer to him.
"You reme—" he started to say and turn toward me, only to stop abruptly. "If you're talking about the Sun Knight, everyone knows he has blond hair and blue eyes, duh."
I smiled sadly. You remember? Isn't that what you want to ask? What a sad pair we are, both questioning our memories. But you've given yourself away. You do remember. I shook my head, reaching for a memory that had come to me with clarity when nothing else had at the time.
"The Sun Knight leads the people forward, while the Judgment Knight will protect his road forward and not let anything obstruct it!"
"I don't care what color your hair or eyes are. Like I said, I'm here for you," I said. "Let me protect your road forward."
"What road is there?" He whirled around completely, arms stretched outward, eyes wide open. This was apparently the last straw after my relentless chase, as Grisia started shouting, all that he had held back, finally letting me slip past his defense, however unwilling on the surface. His words came rushing out, a torrent crashing upon us. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Why can't you just leave things be?! Forget about me! I... I don't want..."
He covered his face, his shoulders trembling minutely, the sight like a redo of that night. Each time I pushed, he must have been close to the edge, hanging on by a thread, yet I could not just leave things be. I reached out, wishing I had done so then, gently taking his hands and pulling them away from his face, rewarding me with an angry scowl and cheeks that were far from dry. He turned his head away and growled, "Don't look at me."
That's too much to ask me. How can I look away?
"Grisia."
"Don't," he warned.
"Why not?" I prodded.
"Why? Look at me! Look at you!" he snapped and pushed me. "I was too late! I couldn't do anything. I... I..."
I pulled myself up, struggling to sit up, the pain in my back finally receding as I did so. I turned to look for a wound, only to be greeted by something completely unexpected.
Astounded, I extended the appendages on my back. They were black and large, so very large. Wings, my mind supplied. I had wings.
The long-haired man by my side choked back a sob.
Startled by Grisia's shove, I accidentally let my wings unfurl in an attempt to steady myself, bumping into the counter and jostling the wine glasses, the very situation I had wanted to avoid. The bartender dove forward, hurriedly rescuing them. His reflexes weren't half bad. He hadn't been too late, and neither was Grisia.
"You weren't too late," I said. "I'm here, aren't I?"
In fact, this was a much better outcome than I could have ever hoped for. I knew that now. It was only right for my folly to be answered in such a way. I hadn't managed to crawl away so that he wouldn't find my body. If I had woken up only to discover that he had lost something irreplaceable... I would never have forgiven myself.
Even now, I...
He shook his head. Perhaps he was too distraught to speak, as he spoke no further.
"You weren't too late," I repeated. I had thought back on that night afterwards, piecing together what could have possibly happened as I waded through what I remembered. I might not be entirely correct, but I had a good idea of how things must have gone. "You found me that night well before the eight hour limit and cast spell after spell, trying to resurrect me, your memories coming back to you from the shock of seeing me dead. But the holy element would not answer to you. Time marched on, until resurrecting me was no longer an option. You brought me back a different way, and here I am now."
He must have knelt beside my body, powerless to do anything about the dark element corroding it. Hours, all alone, with only despair and anguish to accompany him, and no one to answer his prayers. I could not even fathom what he must have felt then. How could I have forced Grisia to experience that?
I had heard him mumbling that night. I had not understood what he had been saying, not then, but later, I figured out that he must have been mumbling, Why have You abandoned me, God of Light?
Why indeed?
"I have yet to see Scarlet around at all. You must have done something to her. Perhaps you killed her or sealed her away," I went on to say.
"I killed her," he finally mumbled. "And I sealed her."
"Ah, both." I was almost right.
"You've always been ridiculously good at figuring things out, Le—" Grisia clamped his mouth shut, face paling so much, he resembled a ghost, but even then, he was full of life, unlike me. I could be lost at the sight.
"So you do remember," I murmured. "What I don't understand is... Why pretend that you don't?"
I tracked him to the outskirts of a different village. He stood by the trees, holding his hand out to the black unicorn I had previously seen with the necromancer, a ball of dark element hovering above his palm. The unicorn nudged his hand, licking the dark element like a treat. I paused, the sight nearly overwhelming me. He was right there, within reach. The sense of dread within me loosened, just a bit.
He didn't turn my way, as if I weren't watching him. When my feet brought me near, he finally spoke up, only to say, "I'll have you know, this is my unicorn."
I blinked in confusion. He didn't give me any time to respond.
"You here to buy him? No? Then, is it to arrest me? Well, I haven't done anything wrong! He's the one who won't stop following me. Besides, it's not like I'm neglecting him. See? I'm feeding the gluttonous bastard! What more do you want from me?"
Arrest him? What?
"No? You're not here to arrest me for pet abuse? Then, why are we even talking? Bye!"
I shook my head. "Each and every time, you pretended like you didn't know me. Why, Grisia?"
Grisia didn't say anything in response. It seemed that it would be up to me to figure out once more what exactly was going on.
"I thought about it, over and over. Why run away? At first, you didn't remember. You didn't even respond to my calling you Sun. But your memories did return later. Why pretend they haven't? Is it because you feel guilty? Don't be. You didn't kill me. You weren't too late either."
Grisia gave a sharp, pained laugh at that. "How am I not guilty? How am I not too late? You're basically dead."
"So? I don't care about that." I was still here. I may not have been able to return to the Holy Temple, but perhaps, one day, I could. If a death lord could be the Hell Knight, then could I not continue as the Judgment Knight? I was still here, and that meant I had not caused Grisia pain he could not recover from.
"Well, you damn should!" Grisia snarled, fists clenched. "And you need to stop being a damn tapeworm and leave things be! If I remember, if you remember, then... then..."
"Then, what?" I prodded. The last tangle was about to be unraveled.
"Then, what happens to you, Lesus?" Grisia whispered, the fight going out of him, voice so quiet that I almost didn't hear him.
Lesus. Yes, that was my name. Not just Judgment. Lesus Judgment. Following that thread, this maze of memories could be traversed at last. The exit was right there, along with what Grisia had been worrying about all along. I had thought it to be guilt, but while there certainly was a great deal of that, guilt wasn't what held him back.
"You're not the only one who can figure things out, Lesus," Grisia said and gestured at himself. "Your lingering obsession. Isn't it to find me and bring me back? So tell me, Lesus Judgment, why have you come here? Why must you do this to yourself? Are you a masochist? Do you want to die again? If you bring me back, then you'll... I don't want you gone!"
The tavern door swung closed behind him, dark hair disappearing inside the building. For a moment, I stood gazing at the swinging door, my feet rooted to the ground. Something in me had compelled me to come this far, to chase after him and commit the sight of him to my memory. I could not let my memories of him remain the sorrowful picture of him kneeled in despair by my side, or for my mind to be filled with his denials of knowing me, effectively keeping me at arm's length, forever a stranger. I didn't want that.
That wasn't us.
Somewhere in me, I ached for his return, for our return, to what we had before, to when he smiled so much more. Even before I remembered, I knew that he wasn't a stranger. He couldn't be a stranger. For him, I would gladly climb any and all walls before me, if only I could reach him. A younger me had climbed plenty of walls for him, hadn't I?
Even now, when my entire existence was an anomaly, I wished that there was still normalcy to be found, that I could still protect his path forward.
No, it doesn't have to be a mere wish. No matter what I look like, or what he looks like, as long as we aren't afraid, what can't we do?
It didn't matter what might happen to me, as long as I could guide Grisia out of the darkness, out of this tumultuous maze, so that he would not remain lost. He had done so for me, countless times. Now, it was my turn. Whether he wished to become the Demon King, or return as the Sun Knight, or leave everything behind, I would protect his way forward.
That was our norm. That was us.
I pushed open the door and headed inside, ready for whatever may come.
Perhaps, I'll buy him a drink first.
the end
Oh gods, this story wouldn't end. :'D But here it is~ I finally reached the ending~. However, there are still some loose ends (like why Lesus has wings and where the heck his horse went), so there will be a few extra scenes to come! They can completely be skipped though, as this story stands on its own. (At least, that's the intention). The extra scenes are quite full of crack, haha. I was going to post them in this same post, but it was getting a bit unwieldy. And the tone is completely different. So, separate post.
Title: New Horizons -That Which Was Lost-
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 5,711
Summary: After Grisia was lost with only the Divine Sun Sword left behind, he was never found. Until Lesus comes across an "amnesic" Grisia while evacuating the citizens. AU
Notes: For the
whole_new_world Alternate Reality/Changing Canon prompt "Never Found." Prompt table over here. This piece is somewhat experimental, though only on the surface, as its final form is simply another fic in which Lesus and Grisia sit around talking. So yeah. They talk. A lot. I also smush together some displaced events that kind of still happen but in a different way. Lesus/Grisia. Or very strong hints~, with a good dose of angst. New Horizons -That Which Was Lost-
"Might I buy you a drink?" I asked.
He angled his body my way, not even giving me a glance. It confirmed what I had been afraid of. He had truly forgotten (hasn't he?), or else he never would have dropped the pretense of his eyes being fine, of things being okay.
It was disconcerting.
Or, it could be that he...
"You again?" He made a face. Mug empty, it thumped on the table as he placed it down. "You're not trying to hit on me, are you? Look, first of all, I'm not a girl, and second of all, that's a terribly clichéd pick up line."
I gestured at the empty mug on the table. "Terrible or not, your mug is empty."
"An astounding observation," came his dry retort. "I never would have noticed."
I couldn't help the corner of my lips lifting up at that, even though my heart ached at the same time. How familiar the banter yet foreign all the same. How has it come to this?
I shook myself out of my thoughts, waving the bartender over. The bartender gave me a scared look but complied in the end. I could only ignore his obvious fright. "A drink, if you will, for this man here."
"Hey! I didn't say I wanted that drink," he complained.
"Since when have you ever refused a drink, Grisia?" I deliberately asked. Is there normalcy still to be found?
At my use of his name, he paused, mouth turning downward, but he gave nothing else away. Instead of commenting about the name drop, he said, "Just because you've been stalking me doesn't mean you know me."
Ah, but I do. I did.
Despite what he said, Grisia took me up on that drink, finally knocking some sense into this disorienting world, giving me hope.
As I walked over, Vidar saluted me and gave me a summary of how the evacuation was coming along. I surveyed the scene, watching our men herd over the refugees from the Kingdom of Kissinger. Like lost sheep, arose an absurd thought that didn't sound like me at all. It sounded more like an observation Grisia would have made. I sobered at the thought. Lost sheep, huh? We are all... lost sheep. And I was one of them.
The evacuation was proceeding in the sense that people were following our orders despite not being our citizens, but it wasn't quick enough. The lands of darkness were expanding by the day, and we were already running out of space at several refugee sites.
We really couldn't afford for this stalemate to continue. It was why the Twelve Holy Knights had been sent out to help with the evacuation, with our teachers holding down the fort back at the Holy Temple, though in reality, our main task was to look for our missing leader.
"Arrange for more tents," I told Vidar. "There are still open grounds to the southeast."
Vidar hesitated but ultimately did not question my command. "Yes, Captain!" He hurried off to see to my orders. I understood his hesitation. The southeast was too close to the Kissinger border where the largest lands of darkness were spreading.
However, it was exactly that proximity that would prove useful in hustling over the refugees, giving them a place to rest their feet before we moved them to a more permanent camp. A perfect solution it was not, but in times like these, one couldn't wish for perfection, only sufficiency.
Furthermore, the Cathedral of the Shadow God had divined that the Kissinger border would be the location of the Demon King's birth, and thus it would be the place most in need of evacuation.
Out of the corner of my eye, a flash of blond caught my attention. I jerked my head. Was that...? I scanned the crowds. I thought I had seen...
"Captain?" one of my holy knights asked, pulling my attention back.
"It is nothing," I eventually said. A lingering glance showed me nothing that I wanted to see. Blond hair was not uncommon. I had merely gotten my hopes up. "Proceed."
"You buy me a drink, and you're not even drinking?" Grisia asked, downing his own. "It feels weird if I'm the only one drinking. Creepy even, with you watching me like that."
"I don't drink," I answered simply, the answer coming to me unbidden, eyes still trained on him. What need is there for wine when I would rather drink in the sight of him instead? But perhaps, when it all came down to it, I was just afraid, afraid that I would lose sight of him if I pulled my eyes away even for a second, and he would be gone once more.
He was, thankfully, in good health as far as I could tell, though the loose robes he wore, so strange to see on him, made it difficult to determine if he had lost any weight. His face was, however, thinner than I felt it should be, with an almost imperceivable thread of stress lining his brows. It would be hard to see upon first glance if I weren't so used to looking for tells...
If I weren't so used to... looking for tells...?
He put his drink down. "Seriously? What is someone like you even doing in a tavern then? Don't tell me it was to follow me? Now you're really being stalkerish."
When I didn't answer, his jaw dropped open.
"Really? You're really stalking me? Come on, I already told you! Whitey is my unicorn! I didn't steal him! In fact, he's the one who keeps tagging along. I can't get rid of him even if I wanted to. You can't arrest me for that."
I couldn't help chuckling. "You named a black unicorn Whitey?"
"Hey, I didn't name him. That is his name. He told me."
"The unicorn told you?" I asked dryly.
"Duh, who else could have told me?"
I snorted. His logic was just so absurd, but I wouldn't put it past him to be able to communicate with a unicorn. He, however, interpreted my mirth a completely different way.
He sniffed and turned his head away. "Fine, be that way. It's not like I need you to believe me."
I sobered. Wasn't there a time when my belief in him mattered more than anything, when he had been so angry that I'd said I believed the evidence over his innocence?
It felt like ages ago, a nearly forgotten memory. I wasn't even sure if I remembered correctly.
"No, I'm not here about the unicorn."
I charged forward, dispatching a skeleton that had been chasing after a boy. The boy in question was huddled on the ground, curled up into a ball with his arms hugging his head. When the coast was clear, he lifted an arm and peeked out.
"Stay with the group," I told him.
"M-my friend.... she's still out there!" the boy whimpered.
So that's why he broke off from the group.
While it was commendable that he wished to save his friend, he was only endangering himself and causing more trouble by going off on his own, something I was all too familiar with regarding a certain someone.
"You'll be doing no one any good if you get yourself killed. Run along now. I'll find her." While a little girl shouldn't be difficult to spot, I still asked to give him the illusion of helping, "What does she look like?"
"Um, she's about this tall," he said, lifting a hand to his chin, "with pigtails. She's wearing a red dress."
I nodded, exchanging a glance with my platoon members to have them take the boy to safety, and for the rest to join me ahead. Then, I turned to follow the path of destruction left by the undead creatures. They were definitely not even the least bit subtle, with no care of what traces they might leave behind. In some ways, I preferred dealing with overt foes like these more than the sly criminals I dealt with on a daily basis. The destruction these undead creatures caused was straightforward, as opposed to the damage wrought by human nature.
But death and destruction would always be a hard sight to swallow.
There were thankfully no little girls dressed in red among the fallen. I kept moving, lending a hand to two villagers who were still breathing. My platoon members cast healing spells to the best of their abilities, enough for the villagers to stand and limp to safety. The clerics back at the camp would be able to see to the rest of their injuries, though their hands were full with the more critically injured.
I moved on ahead.
"Captain! There's a girl—"
I rushed forward, sword already drawn. There were two undead creatures to her left and right, looking to be death knights, but I wasn't certain. They were definitely not the kind of death knight that could be found in any textbook of ours.
I almost couldn't see her, as she was dwarfed by the towering undead flanking her, but the bright red of her hair ribbons drew my eyes to where she stood. There was something odd about how still she was—she wasn't trembling or even making any attempt at fleeing—but even as that thought ran through my mind my sword flew faster, slamming into the death knight closest to me. It was only then that she finally moved, but it wasn't to jump into the arms of the judgment knights rushing over to rescue her. Instead, it was to pivot and glare at me, before she then began tossing dark blades at me.
I leaped backward and dodged, eyes narrowing. No wonder she had made no attempt to flee, and it wasn't because she had been frightened to the point of immobility.
This was no friend of the little boy's, unless his friend was a necromancer. From afar she had seemed to be a normal girl, but in close proximity even I could detect the rivulets of dark element oozing from her, and that wasn't something that could be overlooked in this land overrun by the dark element. Her dark element overpowered even the dense concentration of dark element that surrounded us. Perhaps she was even some kind of undead creature, such as a witch, but something told me she was nothing so simple.
"I won't let you take him," she warned. He's not yours to take! I won't hand him over!
I clutched my head, the ground suddenly too close. Cries of "Captain!" only made a sharp pain seize me, and the thump, thump, thump that followed clued me in that my platoon members had been hit with the same attack, each of them collapsing.
Meanwhile, the death knight that I had struck pulled itself up to the tune of her voice, rushing forward with no care for itself. The other death knight followed closely on its heels, striking at me in tandem. I forced my arm up even as I clutched my head with the other and blocked them, only to see the little girl swing herself onto a black horse—no, a unicorn—that had just galloped over from behind the trees.
I looked over through eyes I could barely open amidst the pain, and that was when one of the death knights stabbed me in the stomach, but I couldn't help my inattention, for there he stood behind the trees, hidden from the sun, a lurking shadow that stole all thought from me. It was no wonder we hadn't been able to find him, with how he blended right into the shadows when we had been seeking our guiding light instead. It might have been the pain making me see things, but that didn't stop the flare of hope that threatened to suffocate me.
"S-Sun!" I shouted.
He did not even glance my way, as if that was not his name. Rather, it was the little girl who gave me a glare seething with hatred, while the unicorn galloped in the direction of my long lost friend.
I shoved the death knight away from me, blood gushing from my wound as the foe's sword tore from my flesh. I put all my strength into my next swing to make sure both death knights stayed down. I pressed down on the wound, staggering forward, but by the time I could look up again, he was no longer there.
I cleared my throat, wishing he would turn my way. "I'm here for you."
He laughed sharply in disbelief. "And you say you're not hitting on me? You're giving me goosebumps. Hey bartender, give this guy some tea or something so he can stop staring at me."
He pushed his chair back, as if to leave, scaring the bartender so much that he'd stopped wiping his glass, unwilling to be left alone with me, but my hand darted out before I knew it. I held Grisia's wrist, his flesh warm below my cold fingers. Even then, he didn't look at me. He tugged once, but I held on tightly.
"Grisia, don't run away," I said.
"Let go," he warned.
How can I let go? I couldn't. If I could, I wouldn't be here.
We found the right girl, in the end. She was wearing a red dress, like the boy had claimed, and had her hair tied up with ribbons in what had possibly been pigtails before the carefully done hairdo had been thrown into disarray. She was face down, her little body too still, her red dress too startling red—from blood.
The clerics fell upon me when we returned, gasping at the sight of my blood drenched clothes. I wanted to wave them off, but a bout of lightheadedness brought me to my knees, and I could only let them fuss over me when there were still so many citizens who needed their aid more than I did.
I had lost too much blood. The hasty healing spells on the way back could only do so much.
I braced myself, letting their warm, soothing healing spells fall upon my wounds. But even as my flesh knitted itself back together, the pain in my head and heart remained.
Beyond the clerics, a young face stood out. The boy bit his lips, eyes darting around, never landing on me for long. I must be a ghastly sight, drenched in blood, but more than that, it was the answer he was afraid of. I could hardly fault him for that.
All I could do was hand him a ribbon and watch as tears welled in his eyes.
"Grisia, don't run away," I said again, unwilling to let go. "Open your eyes."
"This wound will take several days to heal completely, sir," one of the clerics said. "Um, please rest for today."
I gave a nod, pulling my shirt back down, already formulating ideas. The journey back had given me plenty of time to think, to piece together the clues. The next town beyond the forest was not yet evacuated. The necromancer was likely to have gone there, given the path she had taken when she had fled. Where she went, he was likely to be, considering my suspicions about her identity.
If only I had told Grisia about his candidacy, perhaps he would have been better prepared and would not have gone missing. But what ifs did us little good.
After nightfall, I pulled myself up from my bedroll, lifting the flap of the tent and exiting. I adjusted my cloak and untied a horse. I had already rested long enough. If I rested any longer, there was no telling if I would be able to find them there.
I had to be quick. I had to get Grisia away from her.
He snorted. "Open my eyes? You're the one who told me to do so. Don't run away screaming now."
After saying that, he finally opened his eyes, which he had kept closed this entire time. The bartender sucked in a breath at the sight, having obviously been listening in to our conversation.
My breath hitched for a moment too, the bright blue I had been expecting nowhere to be seen. Instead, what greeted me was an expanse of black that spread even to the edge of his eyes, just as black as his hair.
Grisia growled and snapped his eyes shut again. With a show of strength I had not expected, he wrenched his hand out of my grasp. I already missed the warmth.
"See, I told you—"
"Did I run away screaming?" I cut in. "Out of the two of us, I bet I'm the scarier one. That bartender over there would agree. Open your eyes."
"Who do you think you are to command me?" Grisia bit out, but even as he complained, he opened his eyes again, finally turning to face me head on.
Upon first glance, I had only seen how dark his eyes were, but they weren't purely black.
"There's a bit of golden light in your eyes, like a starry night," I whispered, hand reaching out to brush back a lock of his black hair so I could see better. "They're astonishing."
Just as astonishing as that night sky I had seen upon opening my eyes again.
"Astonishing?" Grisia laughed but didn't swat my hand away. "That's the first time I've ever heard anyone describe them that way."
She was not alone, instead surrounded by undead creatures, but neither the black unicorn nor Grisia were in sight. I slowed my horse down, about to turn away to seek Grisia elsewhere, but from the turn of her head, I surmised that she must have already been alerted to my presence.
All at once, the fastest of the undead creatures by her side shot out, biting at the legs of my horse. My horse whinnied and reared up, kicking the undead creatures away from her. I grabbed her mane, trying to prevent myself from getting thrown off.
"Well, well, well, who do we have here?" The girl said and walked forward, the undead creatures parting the way for her. "Was the warning this afternoon not enough?"
My horse snorted, foot pawing the ground. I patted her on the neck, never taking my eyes off of the necromancer in front of me. She was still my best lead to Grisia.
"Are you Scarlet?" I asked, nearly one hundred percent certain that she had to be the lich that Neo had mentioned, the one that had tried to take Grisia away all those years ago. She hadn't managed it back then, but here she was now, bending Grisia to her will.
The girl narrowed her eyes at me. "So you know my name. Then you must know what I am? How brave of you to seek me out all by yourself, Judgment Knight!"
She followed her words up with an attack, several undead creatures pouncing forward. Cutting down the undead creatures was useless, as she summoned more after they fell. I would have to deal with the source, with her, if I wanted to stop them.
Will removing her help Grisia? If she is controlling him...
If not, I could not imagine that Grisia wouldn't return on his own.
I leaned forward, urging my horse to take us charging at the girl as I sliced through the undead creatures swarming us. I could not give the necromancer any time to gather more of her magic, to hit me with anything else other than the undead creatures she commanded. If a repeat of the afternoon were to happen, if she were to attack me with her voice again, I—
I crumpled in pain, toppling forward, hand scrambling to seize the mane of my horse but failing to do so. Dread seized me as I suddenly recalled what I had told the little boy earlier in the day. You'll be doing no one any good if you get yourself killed.
I had warned him not to run off to save his friend on his own. Aren't I doing the same thing?
Never again confuse my child, Judgment Knight!
The ground rushed up to meet me. Pain exploded in my neck.
I should not have come alone.
My tea arrived in a wine glass, served to me via trembling hands. The bartender set it down, the liquid nearly sloshing his hands in his haste before he then quickly retreated.
"My thanks," I told him, taking the glass he had procured for me. In times as trying as these, one couldn't be particular about the type of cup one's tea came in, nor could one fault a bartender for his nerves.
"Huh, he took me seriously," Grisia said.
"It's obvious he takes utmost pride in his job," I responded. "Whether he's serving wine or tea."
Or someone like me.
The entire village was quite empty, with few shops left open. Most had evacuated. He could very well have skipped out on serving anyone at all, but here the bartender was, still going at his job despite the looming doom that awaited us all.
I took a sip, the tea unfortunately bland, like everything else ever since. But it was soothing and warm. I took a bigger gulp, the tea warming me up.
"Well, now we're even," Grisia said. "You got me a drink. I got you a drink. Even. Bye."
"Grisia," I said to stop him, the tea giving me courage, the last push I needed. It was going to hurt to rip apart this charade, but I was prepared to do so. When I looked over at him, he had his back facing me. He was already halfway to the door. I couldn't let him walk out like this.
"Sun," I tried, the name nearly foreign yet so familiar, "you remember, don't you?"
Cold.
It was cold.
My entire body shuddered. I opened my eyes. The dark, night sky stretched on and on, not even broken by moonlight. I stared into the abyss, lost and alone, but it was then that a faint pulse of light drew my attention. The inky sky was not without stars, after all.
I followed the faint light, mesmerized, and rolled to my side, my entire back aching, only to be greeted by the sight of a long-haired figure. He had his hands to his face, inky black locks tangled in his fingers, his shoulders shaking minutely as he rocked himself back and forth, mumbling something over and over that I couldn't entirely make out.
"Gri—" I started to say but stopped. The rest of the name wouldn't come to me. I shook my head, trying to dislodge the cobwebs miring my thoughts.
He startled, his entire body stilling.
I know you, don't I?
I knew him, yet I could not... No, besides that...
Who am I?
He stilled, just like then, when I had almost called his name but couldn't. It had taken me some time to remember, my memories jumbled upon waking, allowing him to run away and play pretend. But this pretense couldn't go on any longer. Even now, my memories were still a maze, but I sorted enough of them out to know that I shouldn't have let him out of my sight that night. I of course sought him out afterwards, but all he did was run, each and every time.
"Don't call me that," he finally said, voice quiet. "I'm not Sun."
"Just because you don't have blond hair and blue eyes?" I asked.
I got up, angling my back away from the counter, careful not to bump into it, and stepped closer to him.
"You reme—" he started to say and turn toward me, only to stop abruptly. "If you're talking about the Sun Knight, everyone knows he has blond hair and blue eyes, duh."
I smiled sadly. You remember? Isn't that what you want to ask? What a sad pair we are, both questioning our memories. But you've given yourself away. You do remember. I shook my head, reaching for a memory that had come to me with clarity when nothing else had at the time.
"The Sun Knight leads the people forward, while the Judgment Knight will protect his road forward and not let anything obstruct it!"
"I don't care what color your hair or eyes are. Like I said, I'm here for you," I said. "Let me protect your road forward."
"What road is there?" He whirled around completely, arms stretched outward, eyes wide open. This was apparently the last straw after my relentless chase, as Grisia started shouting, all that he had held back, finally letting me slip past his defense, however unwilling on the surface. His words came rushing out, a torrent crashing upon us. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Why can't you just leave things be?! Forget about me! I... I don't want..."
He covered his face, his shoulders trembling minutely, the sight like a redo of that night. Each time I pushed, he must have been close to the edge, hanging on by a thread, yet I could not just leave things be. I reached out, wishing I had done so then, gently taking his hands and pulling them away from his face, rewarding me with an angry scowl and cheeks that were far from dry. He turned his head away and growled, "Don't look at me."
That's too much to ask me. How can I look away?
"Grisia."
"Don't," he warned.
"Why not?" I prodded.
"Why? Look at me! Look at you!" he snapped and pushed me. "I was too late! I couldn't do anything. I... I..."
I pulled myself up, struggling to sit up, the pain in my back finally receding as I did so. I turned to look for a wound, only to be greeted by something completely unexpected.
Astounded, I extended the appendages on my back. They were black and large, so very large. Wings, my mind supplied. I had wings.
The long-haired man by my side choked back a sob.
Startled by Grisia's shove, I accidentally let my wings unfurl in an attempt to steady myself, bumping into the counter and jostling the wine glasses, the very situation I had wanted to avoid. The bartender dove forward, hurriedly rescuing them. His reflexes weren't half bad. He hadn't been too late, and neither was Grisia.
"You weren't too late," I said. "I'm here, aren't I?"
In fact, this was a much better outcome than I could have ever hoped for. I knew that now. It was only right for my folly to be answered in such a way. I hadn't managed to crawl away so that he wouldn't find my body. If I had woken up only to discover that he had lost something irreplaceable... I would never have forgiven myself.
Even now, I...
He shook his head. Perhaps he was too distraught to speak, as he spoke no further.
"You weren't too late," I repeated. I had thought back on that night afterwards, piecing together what could have possibly happened as I waded through what I remembered. I might not be entirely correct, but I had a good idea of how things must have gone. "You found me that night well before the eight hour limit and cast spell after spell, trying to resurrect me, your memories coming back to you from the shock of seeing me dead. But the holy element would not answer to you. Time marched on, until resurrecting me was no longer an option. You brought me back a different way, and here I am now."
He must have knelt beside my body, powerless to do anything about the dark element corroding it. Hours, all alone, with only despair and anguish to accompany him, and no one to answer his prayers. I could not even fathom what he must have felt then. How could I have forced Grisia to experience that?
I had heard him mumbling that night. I had not understood what he had been saying, not then, but later, I figured out that he must have been mumbling, Why have You abandoned me, God of Light?
Why indeed?
"I have yet to see Scarlet around at all. You must have done something to her. Perhaps you killed her or sealed her away," I went on to say.
"I killed her," he finally mumbled. "And I sealed her."
"Ah, both." I was almost right.
"You've always been ridiculously good at figuring things out, Le—" Grisia clamped his mouth shut, face paling so much, he resembled a ghost, but even then, he was full of life, unlike me. I could be lost at the sight.
"So you do remember," I murmured. "What I don't understand is... Why pretend that you don't?"
I tracked him to the outskirts of a different village. He stood by the trees, holding his hand out to the black unicorn I had previously seen with the necromancer, a ball of dark element hovering above his palm. The unicorn nudged his hand, licking the dark element like a treat. I paused, the sight nearly overwhelming me. He was right there, within reach. The sense of dread within me loosened, just a bit.
He didn't turn my way, as if I weren't watching him. When my feet brought me near, he finally spoke up, only to say, "I'll have you know, this is my unicorn."
I blinked in confusion. He didn't give me any time to respond.
"You here to buy him? No? Then, is it to arrest me? Well, I haven't done anything wrong! He's the one who won't stop following me. Besides, it's not like I'm neglecting him. See? I'm feeding the gluttonous bastard! What more do you want from me?"
Arrest him? What?
"No? You're not here to arrest me for pet abuse? Then, why are we even talking? Bye!"
I shook my head. "Each and every time, you pretended like you didn't know me. Why, Grisia?"
Grisia didn't say anything in response. It seemed that it would be up to me to figure out once more what exactly was going on.
"I thought about it, over and over. Why run away? At first, you didn't remember. You didn't even respond to my calling you Sun. But your memories did return later. Why pretend they haven't? Is it because you feel guilty? Don't be. You didn't kill me. You weren't too late either."
Grisia gave a sharp, pained laugh at that. "How am I not guilty? How am I not too late? You're basically dead."
"So? I don't care about that." I was still here. I may not have been able to return to the Holy Temple, but perhaps, one day, I could. If a death lord could be the Hell Knight, then could I not continue as the Judgment Knight? I was still here, and that meant I had not caused Grisia pain he could not recover from.
"Well, you damn should!" Grisia snarled, fists clenched. "And you need to stop being a damn tapeworm and leave things be! If I remember, if you remember, then... then..."
"Then, what?" I prodded. The last tangle was about to be unraveled.
"Then, what happens to you, Lesus?" Grisia whispered, the fight going out of him, voice so quiet that I almost didn't hear him.
Lesus. Yes, that was my name. Not just Judgment. Lesus Judgment. Following that thread, this maze of memories could be traversed at last. The exit was right there, along with what Grisia had been worrying about all along. I had thought it to be guilt, but while there certainly was a great deal of that, guilt wasn't what held him back.
"You're not the only one who can figure things out, Lesus," Grisia said and gestured at himself. "Your lingering obsession. Isn't it to find me and bring me back? So tell me, Lesus Judgment, why have you come here? Why must you do this to yourself? Are you a masochist? Do you want to die again? If you bring me back, then you'll... I don't want you gone!"
The tavern door swung closed behind him, dark hair disappearing inside the building. For a moment, I stood gazing at the swinging door, my feet rooted to the ground. Something in me had compelled me to come this far, to chase after him and commit the sight of him to my memory. I could not let my memories of him remain the sorrowful picture of him kneeled in despair by my side, or for my mind to be filled with his denials of knowing me, effectively keeping me at arm's length, forever a stranger. I didn't want that.
That wasn't us.
Somewhere in me, I ached for his return, for our return, to what we had before, to when he smiled so much more. Even before I remembered, I knew that he wasn't a stranger. He couldn't be a stranger. For him, I would gladly climb any and all walls before me, if only I could reach him. A younger me had climbed plenty of walls for him, hadn't I?
Even now, when my entire existence was an anomaly, I wished that there was still normalcy to be found, that I could still protect his path forward.
No, it doesn't have to be a mere wish. No matter what I look like, or what he looks like, as long as we aren't afraid, what can't we do?
It didn't matter what might happen to me, as long as I could guide Grisia out of the darkness, out of this tumultuous maze, so that he would not remain lost. He had done so for me, countless times. Now, it was my turn. Whether he wished to become the Demon King, or return as the Sun Knight, or leave everything behind, I would protect his way forward.
That was our norm. That was us.
I pushed open the door and headed inside, ready for whatever may come.
Perhaps, I'll buy him a drink first.
the end
Oh gods, this story wouldn't end. :'D But here it is~ I finally reached the ending~. However, there are still some loose ends (like why Lesus has wings and where the heck his horse went), so there will be a few extra scenes to come! They can completely be skipped though, as this story stands on its own. (At least, that's the intention). The extra scenes are quite full of crack, haha. I was going to post them in this same post, but it was getting a bit unwieldy. And the tone is completely different. So, separate post.
no subject
Date: 2018-04-06 03:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-04-08 04:24 am (UTC)