Through the Mirror
“Explain,” the older man ordered with a stern and dissatisfied tone.
The knelt young man kept silent.
“I said… explain…” the old man repeated himself, though knowing full well that the Knight did not want to answer.
“I—“ the Knight started with a shaking tone, stressing the gloves and gauntlet he wore against the bricky floor “—I purposely let her get away, sir…” he answered.
“Why?” The Viscount asked simply, picking his nails and raising a brow.
The silvery hair of the Knight was blocking his stressed and enraged pair of eyes. In his mind, there was only one thought going through his head: what kind of order was ‘kill that innocent girl and we’ll use her as our mana source’. Ridiculous.
“I wasn’t able to catch her when she ran away… and that I was distracted by another sound. Thinking that chasing after her would’ve meant that I wouldn’t be able to investigate, I let her go” the Knight claimed. His tone seemed genuine enough that it convinced the Viscount of the story.
“Alright… you can leave…” the Viscount stated with a small sigh as he turned to the cross-shaped sword that was leaning against the wall of his room.
“Thank you, sir,” the Knight ended before standing up and leaving the room, making sure to close the door as he left.
Upon being outside, the Knight sighed and looked down at his fists. The metallic gauntlet reflected the blood that was on his cheeks all this time. Wiping them off, the man looked out into the horizon. At the time, he was the one of the only real active Knights. However, it also meant that he was given a large number of duties all at once. Tiring, for sure.
“You alright?” Ah, the young Scientist is here again.
“Yes and no” the Knight answered with a quick glance at the Scientist. The Knight wondered what the stain on the other person’s shirt was but decided not to ask.
“You sure you’re being honest?”
“…” the Knight did not answer. Easier than expected, the Knight walked away, no longer paying attention to the words of the scientist. They were all the same. Every one of them.
He’d arrived at a darkened alleyway where presumably nothing was present. Walking deeper into the alley, he would come across a piece of cloth to which he reached down to peer inside.
“Safe?” He’d asked.
There was a girl inside; white hair, blue eyes. She slowly nodded and smiled when it was this Knight who came to her. She had bruises along her body, some of which were treated already.
“Do you want something to eat?” The Knight asked.
The girl nodded before opening her mouth and mouthing the words: “Bread is fine”
The Knight nodded before letting the cloth cover her again. He knew how uncomfortable she was, yet he also knew that this was for the best. Who knows what the other Knights would do if they found her.
He headed to a street where a store he would often buy baked goods from was.
“Two pieces of soft buns as usual” he ordered the baker to which what he ordered was hurriedly packaged and given to him. Paying the baker, the Knight left and headed back to the alleyway.
“Hey…” the Knight said softly before the girl raised the cloth to take the paper bag. She took out one piece and started gnawing on it. The Knight then took a seat beside her.
The Knight watched in joy when he saw how the girl enjoyed such a simple meal.
The girl turned to the man and scooted closer to him.
“Thank you…” she spoke softly.
The Knight simply grinned before standing up and heading back to the palace where he was told to be at this time.
“Come back before midnight, alright?” The girl asked with a small smile.
“I promise” the Knight replied, walking back down the streets.
———————————————
A cloaked and masked figure who was watching the two from above turned to the crow that sat on his shoulder all this time.
“Target located…” he spoke to the crow as it flew off and headed towards the Viscounts’ building.
The masked figure looked down at the girl one last time before turning away and heading back to his room located in the laboratory.
———————————————
“I’m here…” the Knight spoke out loud so the other people within the room could hear.
“Late again, aren’t you?” The Knight who asked him to come spoke with a teasing grin.
“Shut up” the Knight gave the other a fierce look, resting his hand on the blade by his side.
“Alright, alright, sorry” the other Knight apologized with a small laugh.
“I was told that you got a mission for me?”
“Yeah. You know the girl we’ve been looking for? One of the scouts found her location—“ it was then when the Knight’s eyes widened with both fear and surprise. He rushed out of the room and headed towards the alleyway in question.
Looking past the blinding light, within the alleyway was the corpse of the girl in white, skewered by swords of a glassy texture.
The Knight stared in shock and agony at the sight before realizing that in front of her corpse was a Viscount, the one who called him in earlier.
“You have violated Knight’s rules… this is unacceptab—“ the Viscount was cut mid sentence by a punch from the Knight given to him across his face. The eyes of the Knight was furious, ignited with blue flames and giving the Knight’s blade a fiery touch.
The blade was above the Viscount's heart and was going to be stabbed into him before the Viscount kicked the Knight off him and sending out a bombardment of glassy shards towards the man.
The Knight slashed his blade in the air once, sending down a wall of blue flames which disintegrated the glass shards. The Knight let out an enraged scream, summoning a flaming pillar to sprout from the ground below the Viscount and sending the royal officer up to him before slashing the Viscount’s chest several times.
The Viscount did not give up that easily for he summoned a mirror wall in front of him, protecting himself from any future attacks the Knight might throw at him.
The enraged Knight’s eyes were covered with a bluish fiery mask as well as his blade which formed a blue flame coverage.
He slashed the mirror once first but nothing happened to the protective layer the Viscount put up.
The mirror came down with the Knight and the Viscount.
Seeing the Viscount’s smirk at his attempt, the flames inside the Knight grew hotter and burnt fiercer than it used to.
“You…” he pointed the tip of his lit blade at the Viscount before giving the royal officer a concentrated look “…The deepest end of Hell is welcome for you…”
The Viscount smiled and laughed at those words.
“What is a mere Knight going to do to me? Know your place, please”
A flaming pillar came from below the Viscount and shot him upwards.
The Knight followed.
Using up every little bit of energy he had left, he concentrated all his magic in the blade. The flames were now stronger… strong and hot enough to slash through the mirror in front of him and reveal the Viscount behind it.
Giving the Viscount one last look in the air, he dashed towards him.
“Good night…” he slashed at the Viscount’s neck, decapitating him and leaving his body to burn with the flames’ remains.
Upon landing, he coughed out a pool of blood while also feeling a weakened state overwhelming his body.
He looked to the girl he had cared for, limping towards her and reaching up to touch her face.
He brushed the strands which were blocking her face away from her.
“How cruel fate is…” he murmured.
He smiled at the girl…
Feeling a sharp sensation go through him, the Knight turned back to find the crow masked scientist stabbing him through the heart.
“Y-You…” he managed to say before the scientist took the blade out and kept it in his coat.
The Knight fell to the ground, looking up at the scientist while he was taking the blades off the girl’s body and carrying her on his shoulders.
“Don’t worry… your troubles will be rewarded…” the crow masked scientist stated after turning to the fallen man.
The Knight of flames did not have energy left to move anymore. His body laid there before being engulfed in the flames of his own magic, leaving behind nothing but his blade of a white hue.
(16 years later…)
A young-looking Knight came across the alleyway while on patrol and saw the absurdly placed blade. He walked towards it and picked it up.
He did not think much of it at first… but to think of himself as a dual-wielder, that might be more threatening and perhaps cooler. The black blade he held seemed a bit too little for him as well. He then left the alleyway, heading to the palace to see if he could find a sheath suitable for such an antique blade…
(Next Story : “Please, Don’t Cry“)
