A Lie Becomes Truth
A Summon Night: Swordcraft Story fanfiction by Lemonfresh.
Disclaimer: I don't not anything from the game Summon Night: Swordcraft Story, that's all Atlus and Flight Plan. Please don't sue. The story also contains themes of shoujo-ai/yuri/femmeslash/girl love so if you're not a fan of that, don't read.
Author's Notes: Playing the game again, I couldn't help but feel the urge to do a little fic for Pratty and Sugar. But given that I'd previously lost almost all desire to do fanfiction and, further, had chosen to give it up in favor of focusing on my original work I was at a bit of an impasse. So I decided I would only let myself write it if I could complete the entire fic in a single day of work and here we are. Hope you guys enjoy.
It had been a long and oddly quiet day. Well, not particularly quiet in the traditional sense, given that they had spent most of it smelting materials and forging weapons. Rather than that, it had been quiet in the sense that for once the illustrious Craftlord of Iron had not been bothered every alternate minute by official duties, visits by friends and giving lessons to students. For once Pratty had been allowed to spend almost an entire day uninterrupted with Sugar, from the moment they both woke up to the present as the setting sun could be seen through a window in the workshop. And the water fairy of Sapureth could not have been happier with that situation, smiling almost from ear to ear as she and her master completed another fine blade.
"Hmm, that should be enough for today, Sugar. Some of these will fetch a good price in other cities, and I think we managed to improve upon the original technique." Sugar nodded enthusiastically, floating back to the Craftlord's side now that their work was done.
"Yes, Master Pratty, you did a wonderful job forging those weapons." Her praise was genuine and heartfelt and, just as it always had when the Craftlord was younger, Sugar's words brought an embarrassed blush to the ever modest Pratty's cheeks.
"Come on, you know you're not supposed to say embarrassing things like that to me." Also as always Sugar did not respond at first due to being too busy admiring Pratty's blush, as well as considering how fetching it still looked on the woman.
She had grown in the years since the incident revolving around Parista came to a close, now standing a full four inches taller than her fairy guardian. She had grown a strength of body that almost matched that of her character and conviction, no longer the lithe young girl she had once been. And while she was far from a body builder in physique there were still few who were willing to risk fighting Pratty, even when she traveled to places where she was not well-known as the Craftlord of Iron. Maybe that made her less attractive to some people but Sugar didn't care; "Master Pratty is Master Pratty," as she had so often told the younger woman when she had a bad hair day or woke up with a nasty zit. The most beautiful thing about Pratty to the pink-haired fairy was the glow from her spirit, so how she looked at any given moment was inconsequential. Besides, Sugar rather liked the feeling of those strong arms wrapped so tightly around her, so warm and safe.
"-ugar . . . Sugar . . . are you in there?" Abruptly the summon beast realized she was being addressed through her reverie by Pratty, shaking herself free to give an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, Master Pratty, but getting to spend time with you all to myself like this makes me think such mushy things." She closed her soft, gray eyes as she spoke and her smile was as much happy as it was contrite.
The Craftlord of Iron simply shook her head in response, reaching up to pull the sweat rag she had tied about her forehead off.
"That's fine Sugar, but we should really get going if we want to get dinner before the restaurant closes." That said, she dove surprisingly quickly into the closet to get a fresh set of clothes and that gave Sugar pause.
"Hmm, Master Pratty knows I don't care where we eat so long as it is with you . . ." She said aloud, her expression quickly turning devious. "Are you planning something romantic for Sugar?" She asked, drifting slowly over to the closet her master was hidden in.
Pratty emerged only a moment after she arrived beside it, just pulling on a light jerkin to go with her equally light trousers and smiling helplessly.
"Come on Sugar, you know I don't do stuff like that. Don't be so suspicious." Her manner itself was not particularly reassuring, but that was how Pratty had always been; saying things so directly and yet with a look on her face that made her wonder if the girl honestly knew how she felt.
All the same, Sugar nodded amicably.
"Fine, fine. But unless you think I'll need a coat, Master Pratty, you're the only one we're waiting on." Just having finished slipping on and tying some shoes, Pratty looked up to grin and give a nod in acknowledgement of Sugar's point.
"I suppose so. Let's get going then."
* * *
Outside of the new Silver Guild, Sugar was honestly shocked to find that they were not met by a barrage of officials and other such individuals clamoring for her master's attention. She frowned deeply as they made their way through what had once been Upper Wystern until the waters rose enough for it to become Middle Wystern, noting pointedly that few of the common people were clamoring either despite the Craftlord of Iron's virtual celebrity status.
"Master, what's going on?" She asked abruptly of the younger woman while they floated and walked, respectively. "I expected we only had the privacy we did because you had barricaded the Guild, but there wasn't even anyone waiting outside." Pratty chuckled at Sugar's suggestion, looking back with a smile.
"I called in a few favors at the tower and got clerks to handle my paperwork for today. Master Sakuro graciously took care of my business that required a Craftlord's presence in exchange for meal of curry. And there's a reason I put on these clothes and let my hair down before we left." Unfortunately, Pratty's explanation only made her guardian beast frown even more deeply.
"Why," she asked simply, clearly becoming displeased with all of the gray-haired woman's suspicious actions despite her reassurances.
It all vanished in a puff when Pratty suddenly reached back to take Sugar's hand in her own, smiling.
"Because I've been doing a lot of work lately and not spending enough time with you, silly." Grinning at the surprise written in Sugar's features then, Pratty added, "so I made some time." Before the fairy could gather her wits enough to respond, though, Pratty used that hand she held to pull Sugar along as she made a mad dash for the restaurant.
She only stopped just short of the doors to the building, the restaurant build by the spice vendor whose former stall sank with Old Lower Wystern, and took a few moments to catch her breath while the airborne fairy looked on with a triumphant smirk.
"Hah . . . don't be s-so smug . . . cheater." Pratty managed to say in between breaths, Sugar retorting smartly with a smile as she stuck out her tongue.
Once she had composed herself the Craftlord of Iron stepped forward to open the door and allow Sugar in before herself, which left the fairy to be surprised by a greeting from the owner.
"Hello there and good day. It has been quite some time since I last saw you two." The dark-skinned man said with a gregarious smile, only further arousing Sugar's suspicions with his presence instead of a maître d'. "Come this way, please, we have been expecting you." He said before the pink-haired guardian beast could object and once again Pratty pulled her along, dragging her through the heavy curtains that separated the waiting area from the dining area.
And suddenly everyone was there, all standing about inside the otherwise empty dining room and smiling as they looked at the entering pair. The Craftlords were present in their entirety, from Rondeau, Sakuro and Kouren to the newest three members; Sanary the Jade, Varil the Crystal and Razzy the Amber. Bron and Libody were there as well and had clearly been at one another's throats before the two had appeared, which sent them into a desperate scramble to try and appear respectable. So too were Rumari and Tyram present, the former Craftlord of Jade looking better every day while her husband fussed over her like a doting mother hen. Amariss was there as well, of course and actually looking oddly emotional . . . almost as though she might burst out into tears at any moment.
"Master Pratty, wh- . . ." Sugar's question trailed off into silence as Pratty moved beside her, coming to stand in front of her while still holding the other woman's hand.
She was blushing faintly, but smiling as she unexpectedly said,
"I know this is just a formality with you, but I thought you'd appreciate the sentiment of it." And then she shifted, bending down on one knee before Sugar while reaching into her pocket.
From there Pratty withdrew a small, black-felt box that she held out to the guardian beast before opening it to reveal a golden ring set with a brilliant diamond.
"Sugarette of Sapureth, will you marry me?" For a moment, the room was filled with nothing but silence as all present waited to hear Sugar's inevitable reply.
The first sound to break the quiet was not words, but rather the plip and plop of the pink-haired fairy's tears falling to the ground. But the smile on her face was so happy, so overjoyed that no one mistook the meaning of those tears.
"Yes, I will marry Master Pratty." She finally said when she felt that her voice would not fail her, and that brought the Craftlord of Iron back to her feet with a soft smile on her face as well.
"Now you didn't lie, Sugar; you really are my fiancée'." The smile vanished as soon as Pratty's feet were no longer in contact with the ground, however, as Sugar abruptly grabbed the other woman up in a hug and bodily lifted her into the air.
"Master Pratty is my husband!" She cried with absolute glee, swinging the other woman around and around for a few moments as if she weighed nothing at all until Sanary, Razzy and Varil rushed in to stop the fairy's spree.
Back on the ground, Pratty had to take a few moments just to regain her bearings before she could say anything at all, nodding her shaky thanks to her friends before turning her attention back to Sugar.
"You know, I'd actually be a lot more comfortable if you'd call me your 'wife,' Sugar. It sounds weird being called your husband when I'm a girl." Her voice was gently pleading as she spoke to the guardian beast, but the younger woman's expression fell at the positively evil look in her fiancée's eyes then.
"Maybe you're right, Master Pratty. After all, Sugar is always the one on top when the lights go out." Her grin was devious and she looked to the side despite speaking her words quite audibly, leaving Pratty to turn bright red as all gathered burst out laughing.
"Sugar, don't say things like that in front of mother!" The woman's cry of dismay might have been answered in some way by the water fairy, but that was delayed as the pink-haired woman suddenly found an arm about her shoulders.
"You and I always were far too alike, Sugar." The arm belonged to Amariss, the tears she had started to shed at Pratty's proposal still flowing down her cheeks even as she smiled conspiratorially to her future daughter-in-law.
Sugar returned the smile in kind, leaving Pratty to her desperate and all-consuming desire to crawl into a hole somewhere and die while the party finally got started. And while it took her some time to finally get back into the swing of things, Pratty eventually returned to Sugar's side to receive the congratulations of all present in turn. The party dragged on well into the night until finally winding down as the moon hung high in the night sky. And when the guests of honor left to return home, it cast its pale luminescence on the two while they walked by the waters of Wystern.
* * *
"Sorry for making you put up with me being a wuss about asking for so long, Sugar." Pratty noted fairly abruptly as they walked, shaking the guardian beast from her silent admiration of the captivating sparkle of her ring in the light of the moon.
"It's okay, Master Pratty, I knew you would ask me eventually and I was happy to wait." Pratty frowned at the fairy's response just a little, shaking her head before heaving a helpless sigh.
"You know, now that we're gonna be married I just can't let you keep calling me 'master,' Sugar. I want you to start just calling me 'Pratty'." Smiling, Sugar drifted closer to the Craftlord of Iron as she walked until she settled against the other woman's body.
Wrapping one arm about her fiancée's shoulders, Sugar allowed her other arm to hang over the woman's torso before resting her hand pointedly on Pratty's stomach.
"Alright Pratty. So tell me when you're planning on telling them all about our little one here, hmm?" Her grin was devilish and even in the faint light of the moon she could make our Pratty's deep, crimson blush as she looked away.
"I . . . uh, was hoping to just let it be a surprise?" She tittered quietly as she continued to determinedly avert her gaze from Sugar, though that did little to save her as the fairy pulled closer to her and spoke almost directly into her ear.
"Oh but Pratty, once you start to show everyone will think that you cheated on me. Won't that just be horrible?" For a few seconds Pratty appeared to be torn with indecision before suddenly straightening and then slowly shifting to look at Sugar as the guardian beast gave her a little room.
"But you're always with me, Sugar, so when they finally come to confront me about it just imagine how they'll all look when you proudly declare that it isyours?" Finally the Craftlord of Iron also wore a devious smile and it made Sugar shift excitedly in the air before her.
"Oh yes, it will be just hilarious. I can't wait Pratty, I just can't wait!"
Author's Notes: Before you complain, the ending was supposed to entirely make sense. It was just an amusing thought I had which seemed like a good comedic note to end the fic on. If you really need an answer, just remember that Sugar is some sort of crazy water spirit/fairy from another dimension and assume she could accomplish that somehow. Anyways, back to my not doing anything that you guys will see for quite awhile and thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my work.