[Legend of Sun Knight] fic: Bittersweet Sweetness Part 25
Title: Bittersweet Sweetness Part 25
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 1,620
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: Battle scenes, I despise you. I'm quite tired of reading over this part though, so this is the best we'll get. |D;; Home stretch!! Though I say that, I thought the fic was winding down back in Part 12...yet here we are, 25 parts and counting. Also, this fic is now over 40k long. Which actually makes this my second longest piece ever. Dang.
Previous Part
Part 25 - Judgment
I dropped to my feet, arms swinging my sword up to block Roland's blow. The Divine Sun Sword weighed heavily in my hands, and Roland had put so much strength behind his attack that I had to use both of my arms to bring the blade above my head to block him. Roland had caught me in a bad position. My tired arms protested, straining from the effort. Heart beating with adrenaline, I clenched my teeth and gave a push to throw Roland off so that I could reestablish my footing.
That was a miscalculation on my part. Between Roland and Sun, the former was the heavier one. Not only did he not stumble from my push, he eased back and allowed me to stagger forward. I quickly caught on, letting my momentum carry me forward as I twisted and borrowed the opportunity to strike, relying on Sun's speed that was quicker than my own to force Roland to take a defensive stance. In order to emerge victorious from this duel, I would have to turn Sun's lighter frame into an advantage rather than a disadvantage.
What was possibly a faint smile flashed over Roland's lips, a miniscule, almost imperceptible upturn at the corner of his mouth. He was enjoying himself despite my messy footwork, just as I felt a similar rush of exhilaration over exchanging blows with a worthy opponent. Metal shrieked with enough friction to induce sparks when our blades met, the Divine Sun Sword gleaming against Roland's demonic sword.
Bringing the Divine Sun Sword along with me had been the correct choice. In a prolonged duel, an inferior blade would not have held against Roland's sword, a beautiful but deadly one that gave off rivulets of the dark element. To my sight, the sword appeared like an extension of Roland, both so heavily overlaid with the dark element, void of impurities from all other elements. When my sword clashed against Roland's, I could even see the holy element from the Divine Sun Sword piercing into the darkness that enveloped Roland's blade. At the same time, the dark element from his blade pushed back, threatening to wipe out the holiness of the Divine Sun Sword. With each clash, the elements wavered and battled for dominance.
This was the world I saw after Grisia's explanation of his elemental sensing. All of a sudden as long as I focused, even normal, everyday objects transformed into completely new sights, constructed by different percentages of elements. My naked eyes saw merely the norm, but Sun's extra senses gave new meaning to what it meant to see the world. As I fought, dodged, watched, and bided my time, I saw more than I had ever seen before, knowing to twist away when I saw dark element approach me from the side, or when I sensed a building composed of the wood element coming up from behind me.
Usually, I could guess at my surroundings with my instincts, but now, I knew my surroundings better than ever before, an intimate understanding that allowed me to anticipate what was to come. Even with battle aura, I had not sensed this much, as battle aura only applied to the animated.
I fell into a rhythm, finding a balance between seeing and reacting.
It was almost like dancing.
With this kind of ability, Sun could have easily become a very powerful swordsman, if only he could keep his sword in his grasp.
Does Sun just not know how to combine this knowledge with swordplay? It would explain why his swordsmanship always seemed so confused. His elemental sensing was a blessing when it came to magic -- the elements responded to him so easily -- but applying it to swordplay required a balance and an understanding of how things worked that he had never seemed to be able to master.
Off to the side, Grisia watched in silence. To my current sight, he was a mix of unique elements that I didn't have to turn to see, a steady presence. I knew he was there, eyes trained on both of us, watching but unable to interfere.
I'll finish this, I promised him inside my head. I no longer wanted to see him distressed over Roland or to hear his name slandered. I would end things once and for all. Only then would Grisia be able to lay down his guilt and self-doubt. Only then would Grisia be able to understand that he hadn't failed anyone.
Carefully, Roland studied me for openings just as I studied him.
"It's like I've never known you," Roland said as we circled each other. "You've changed."
Grisia made a strangled noise even as I thought, No, you do know Grisia. You know him well, so well that you know that things aren't quite right.
However, I kept my thoughts to myself and instead spoke for Grisia's sake, knowing he would want to know. "I could say the same of you. Do you loathe me? Why have you attacked me? I am not the one who killed you."
"Why would I loathe you?" Roland asked, bewildered.
"You injured me the moment you showed up. I bled and could not leave my bed for days."
And for the same number of days, I worried over Grisia, visiting his bedside whenever time permitted in-between my investigations.
An apologetic look came over Roland. "I did not mean for that to happen. I am sorry. I only meant to bring some undead creatures from Pink for you to take care of. When I saw you, I wanted to greet you, so I waved... I did not know my own strength and speed, as I had only recently become a death knight then. It was an accident that I cut through you before I could stop myself."
Both Grisia and I stared at Roland.
Could this all have been a misunderstanding?
"Why did you say that you would come back for me?" I continued to ask. Although my assumptions had just been completely turned over, I remained composed, years of being the Judgment Knight seeing to my steadfastness. I pressed on.
"I wanted to find you to say goodbye," Roland said.
Yet with those words, you implicated Sun and damaged his reputation.
"Is that why you're here now?" I asked.
"Yes. That, and I wanted to finish our duel."
"Then let's finish it."
Only, this wasn't going to be goodbye.
It relieved me to have Roland's words that he would "listen" if I were to win this duel. After this latest revelation from Roland that he hadn't injured Sun out of malice, I did not doubt that he wouldn't hold himself true to his promise. The only problem now would be actually winning the duel. I had the Divine Sun Sword to aid me this time, and I was growing accustomed to fighting in Sun's body, but Roland was no easy opponent. His skill was phenomenal. In fact, if I had been myself, without Sun's blessed Divine Sun Sword and Sun's elemental sensing, I would hesitate to say that I could win against Roland.
However, I was currently Sun, and I had Sun's special set of skills to help me, even though Sun didn't know how to use them in conjunction with swordplay. I had thought I would be at a disadvantage as Sun, fighting in an unfamiliar body, but perhaps this was even a blessing in disguise.
Neither Roland nor I borrowed strength from offensive magic, as if we had come to a silent agreement that this would be settled by swords alone. If Roland so willed it, he could summon undead creatures to aid him, blast me with the dark element, or even teleport, flashing away all too quickly for me to land a hit. I, on the other hand, could attack him with holy light, burn through his large amount of dark element, and even hurt him with the holiness that ran in Sun's blood, but I did none of that.
Both of us stuck stubbornly to our swords. I had no doubt that Grisia thought us both to be sword idiots.
I flew forward, a rush of elements warring for my attention. Blow after blow, I blocked, I parried, I dealt the starting hand in a never-ending dance. Roland met me each time. My arms shook with effort and sweat dripped down my face, but my movements were still lithe and light. Graceful. A style entirely unlike my usual, yet it wasn't Grisia's either.
When I found myself in another stalemate with Roland, I gave a push yet again, this time with my feet digging into the earth to maintain my footing. Then, I took a page out of Roland's tactics, and dropped back, knowing that a battle of strength did me no favors.
Roland stumbled forward.
I struck, blade singing out-
Clang.
His sword flew out of his grasp, piercing the ground behind him.
For a moment, both of us stood still. I almost couldn't believe that I had done it. My heart was still pounding furiously, blood rushing in my ears as I kept my sword trained on Roland.
Then, the corners of Roland's mouth quirked up, though his eyes were sad. "I surrender."
I lowered my sword. Roland bent to pick his up from the ground.
"As promised, I'll listen to what you have to say," Roland said.
I sought Grisia out, who gave me a nod. Then, I turned my attention back to Roland. He promised us he would listen. Now that we knew Roland did not bear a grudge against Grisia, that made things simpler.
"Help us stage an attack on the king," I said bluntly.
Roland's eyes widened. "What?"
-----
to be continued
Oh Judgment, why are you becoming sappier and sappier...
Next Part
Fandom: The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 1,620
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: Battle scenes, I despise you. I'm quite tired of reading over this part though, so this is the best we'll get. |D;; Home stretch!! Though I say that, I thought the fic was winding down back in Part 12...yet here we are, 25 parts and counting. Also, this fic is now over 40k long. Which actually makes this my second longest piece ever. Dang.
Previous Part
Part 25 - Judgment
I dropped to my feet, arms swinging my sword up to block Roland's blow. The Divine Sun Sword weighed heavily in my hands, and Roland had put so much strength behind his attack that I had to use both of my arms to bring the blade above my head to block him. Roland had caught me in a bad position. My tired arms protested, straining from the effort. Heart beating with adrenaline, I clenched my teeth and gave a push to throw Roland off so that I could reestablish my footing.
That was a miscalculation on my part. Between Roland and Sun, the former was the heavier one. Not only did he not stumble from my push, he eased back and allowed me to stagger forward. I quickly caught on, letting my momentum carry me forward as I twisted and borrowed the opportunity to strike, relying on Sun's speed that was quicker than my own to force Roland to take a defensive stance. In order to emerge victorious from this duel, I would have to turn Sun's lighter frame into an advantage rather than a disadvantage.
What was possibly a faint smile flashed over Roland's lips, a miniscule, almost imperceptible upturn at the corner of his mouth. He was enjoying himself despite my messy footwork, just as I felt a similar rush of exhilaration over exchanging blows with a worthy opponent. Metal shrieked with enough friction to induce sparks when our blades met, the Divine Sun Sword gleaming against Roland's demonic sword.
Bringing the Divine Sun Sword along with me had been the correct choice. In a prolonged duel, an inferior blade would not have held against Roland's sword, a beautiful but deadly one that gave off rivulets of the dark element. To my sight, the sword appeared like an extension of Roland, both so heavily overlaid with the dark element, void of impurities from all other elements. When my sword clashed against Roland's, I could even see the holy element from the Divine Sun Sword piercing into the darkness that enveloped Roland's blade. At the same time, the dark element from his blade pushed back, threatening to wipe out the holiness of the Divine Sun Sword. With each clash, the elements wavered and battled for dominance.
This was the world I saw after Grisia's explanation of his elemental sensing. All of a sudden as long as I focused, even normal, everyday objects transformed into completely new sights, constructed by different percentages of elements. My naked eyes saw merely the norm, but Sun's extra senses gave new meaning to what it meant to see the world. As I fought, dodged, watched, and bided my time, I saw more than I had ever seen before, knowing to twist away when I saw dark element approach me from the side, or when I sensed a building composed of the wood element coming up from behind me.
Usually, I could guess at my surroundings with my instincts, but now, I knew my surroundings better than ever before, an intimate understanding that allowed me to anticipate what was to come. Even with battle aura, I had not sensed this much, as battle aura only applied to the animated.
I fell into a rhythm, finding a balance between seeing and reacting.
It was almost like dancing.
With this kind of ability, Sun could have easily become a very powerful swordsman, if only he could keep his sword in his grasp.
Does Sun just not know how to combine this knowledge with swordplay? It would explain why his swordsmanship always seemed so confused. His elemental sensing was a blessing when it came to magic -- the elements responded to him so easily -- but applying it to swordplay required a balance and an understanding of how things worked that he had never seemed to be able to master.
Off to the side, Grisia watched in silence. To my current sight, he was a mix of unique elements that I didn't have to turn to see, a steady presence. I knew he was there, eyes trained on both of us, watching but unable to interfere.
I'll finish this, I promised him inside my head. I no longer wanted to see him distressed over Roland or to hear his name slandered. I would end things once and for all. Only then would Grisia be able to lay down his guilt and self-doubt. Only then would Grisia be able to understand that he hadn't failed anyone.
Carefully, Roland studied me for openings just as I studied him.
"It's like I've never known you," Roland said as we circled each other. "You've changed."
Grisia made a strangled noise even as I thought, No, you do know Grisia. You know him well, so well that you know that things aren't quite right.
However, I kept my thoughts to myself and instead spoke for Grisia's sake, knowing he would want to know. "I could say the same of you. Do you loathe me? Why have you attacked me? I am not the one who killed you."
"Why would I loathe you?" Roland asked, bewildered.
"You injured me the moment you showed up. I bled and could not leave my bed for days."
And for the same number of days, I worried over Grisia, visiting his bedside whenever time permitted in-between my investigations.
An apologetic look came over Roland. "I did not mean for that to happen. I am sorry. I only meant to bring some undead creatures from Pink for you to take care of. When I saw you, I wanted to greet you, so I waved... I did not know my own strength and speed, as I had only recently become a death knight then. It was an accident that I cut through you before I could stop myself."
Both Grisia and I stared at Roland.
Could this all have been a misunderstanding?
"Why did you say that you would come back for me?" I continued to ask. Although my assumptions had just been completely turned over, I remained composed, years of being the Judgment Knight seeing to my steadfastness. I pressed on.
"I wanted to find you to say goodbye," Roland said.
Yet with those words, you implicated Sun and damaged his reputation.
"Is that why you're here now?" I asked.
"Yes. That, and I wanted to finish our duel."
"Then let's finish it."
Only, this wasn't going to be goodbye.
It relieved me to have Roland's words that he would "listen" if I were to win this duel. After this latest revelation from Roland that he hadn't injured Sun out of malice, I did not doubt that he wouldn't hold himself true to his promise. The only problem now would be actually winning the duel. I had the Divine Sun Sword to aid me this time, and I was growing accustomed to fighting in Sun's body, but Roland was no easy opponent. His skill was phenomenal. In fact, if I had been myself, without Sun's blessed Divine Sun Sword and Sun's elemental sensing, I would hesitate to say that I could win against Roland.
However, I was currently Sun, and I had Sun's special set of skills to help me, even though Sun didn't know how to use them in conjunction with swordplay. I had thought I would be at a disadvantage as Sun, fighting in an unfamiliar body, but perhaps this was even a blessing in disguise.
Neither Roland nor I borrowed strength from offensive magic, as if we had come to a silent agreement that this would be settled by swords alone. If Roland so willed it, he could summon undead creatures to aid him, blast me with the dark element, or even teleport, flashing away all too quickly for me to land a hit. I, on the other hand, could attack him with holy light, burn through his large amount of dark element, and even hurt him with the holiness that ran in Sun's blood, but I did none of that.
Both of us stuck stubbornly to our swords. I had no doubt that Grisia thought us both to be sword idiots.
I flew forward, a rush of elements warring for my attention. Blow after blow, I blocked, I parried, I dealt the starting hand in a never-ending dance. Roland met me each time. My arms shook with effort and sweat dripped down my face, but my movements were still lithe and light. Graceful. A style entirely unlike my usual, yet it wasn't Grisia's either.
When I found myself in another stalemate with Roland, I gave a push yet again, this time with my feet digging into the earth to maintain my footing. Then, I took a page out of Roland's tactics, and dropped back, knowing that a battle of strength did me no favors.
Roland stumbled forward.
I struck, blade singing out-
Clang.
His sword flew out of his grasp, piercing the ground behind him.
For a moment, both of us stood still. I almost couldn't believe that I had done it. My heart was still pounding furiously, blood rushing in my ears as I kept my sword trained on Roland.
Then, the corners of Roland's mouth quirked up, though his eyes were sad. "I surrender."
I lowered my sword. Roland bent to pick his up from the ground.
"As promised, I'll listen to what you have to say," Roland said.
I sought Grisia out, who gave me a nod. Then, I turned my attention back to Roland. He promised us he would listen. Now that we knew Roland did not bear a grudge against Grisia, that made things simpler.
"Help us stage an attack on the king," I said bluntly.
Roland's eyes widened. "What?"
-----
to be continued
Oh Judgment, why are you becoming sappier and sappier...
Next Part