Sensory
By moonlight ray
Disclaimer: I, sadly, don't own LSK. Yu Wo, I seriously envy you for this.
[A/N: This story was inspired by an incident at the mall where the stupid automatic door wouldn't open for me. :P ]
The Twelve Holy Knights were gathered around the Conference Table, deep in discussion. That's right—all Twelve Holy Knights. Not ten, or eleven. All of them, including their fashionably-late-but-nevertheless-present leader, the Sun Knight. His attendance was a rather rare one, and some of the other Knight-Captains couldn't help but be surprised or wary.
Furthermore, what was even more shocking was that Sun was actually leading the conversation. This only promoted the others' suspicions, for the only times Sun willingly and responsibly took charge was either for an extremely serious matter that could threaten the world, or when he was cooking up a devious scheme that could also threaten the world.
"…have already confirmed it with His Grace the Pope, and under the shining favour of the God of Light, he taken heed to Her benevolent cause and has granted permission to carry out Her will." Sun was saying.
"Permission for what?" Earth cut in impatiently. "Enough with your redundant speeches! We're in a private room; if you want to destroy the world, just spit it out!"
Sun rolled his eyes indignantly. "Just who wants to destroy the world? I'm simply trying to prevent the further destruction of the Holy Temple's doors!"
"Then please just say so from the beginning," Storm sighed wearily. "I still have a bunch of paperwork to get done after this meeting, so please make it quick."
Sun shrugged, happy to drop the 'God of Light' language patterns. "You see, I pieced together this enchantment spell from the ancient books. It detects motion within a 2-meter radius from the object it has been cast on and alerts the owner by illuminating holy light.
"Of course, I've modified it to also open the door a minute after the alert, when the visitor would be within knocking distance. This function may invite dangerous intruders, so the locks in the Holy Temple have recently been upgraded (since now there'll be more funds at our disposal when we won't have to pay to replace doors anymore)."
Once Sun had finished explaining, even Earth seemed rather impressed. "For once, Sun came up with a decent, feasible idea! It must be a miracle from the God of Light!"
You… how about I enchant your door to slam right in your face?
One week later, the Twelve Holy Knights adjoined again to discuss the effects of the new spell. "It's convenient to have a door that opens by itself," Storm commented. Especially when your hands are loaded down with a ton of paperwork, he added silently.
"The spell's been working miracles on my privacy," Earth's tone bore less derision than usual, which, considering his position, had to be taken as a compliment.
"My door hasn't bore a single new scratch," Stone said admiringly.
"And I don't have to constantly replace the items that fell off the shelf on my wall from the door vibrations," Moon muttered gratefully.
"Well, I don't like it. I can barely make an entrance anymore!" Blaze objected vehemently.
"Look on bright side—now you won't have to siphon money from your paychecks to replace the doors you keep breaking." Sun replied contentedly. This spell is going even better than planned! To think, even Earth had to give praise to it!
"Hold on… has anyone seen Cloud?" Leaf piped up.
"Seen him? When have we ever seen him?" Metal retorted, with less rancor than he should have.
"No, not like that. It's just…" Leaf paused, glancing around the room. "I don't think he's here."
Everyone waited, silence filling the room as they all peered at their surroundings. A few minutes later, they unanimously came upon the conclusion that Leaf was indeed correct. If Cloud had been present, he would've appeared by then, with a ghostly "I'm here." But he didn't, so where was he…?
As expected, Judgment was the first to take charge. "Could he have forgotten that there was a meeting today?"
"I don't think so; he usually keeps track of these things." Leaf responded worriedly.
"Then could he have overslept?"
"I can go check," Sun offered.
Judge gave him a slight nod.
Earth chuckled, "That's just like Sun—always jumping at the chance to ditch a meeting."
…I would refute you, except that it's true. Instead, Sun simply shot him a bright and innocent smile before leaving the room.
The first place Sun checked was the library. Ever since the Pope had forced the position of librarian onto him, Cloud could almost always be found there. However, today was one of those days when he wasn't. Strange… Normally I would try to stretch out my senses to search for him, but Cloud can't be found using the same techniques as any other person…
Next, Sun looked through the main cupboards, nooks, and dark hiding places that Cloud usually liked to read in. With no luck, he then wandered to the courtyard, to check if Cloud was drifting or napping or reading there. There was no trace of him.
As Sun ambled his way down the hall leading to the Twelve Knight-Captain's rooms, he decided to take a small detour. All this searching is getting me thirsty. I should stop by my room to grab a drink…
But before he could reach the door to his room, Sun noticed that the door to Cloud's room was shaking slightly. Upon closer inspection, he realized that it was actually being jostled from the inside. Could the spell have malfunctioned? Sun pondered to himself, slowly moving closer to the door. Perhaps it accidentally locked its occupant inside?
Sun walked within the detection region for the spell, and it activated, swinging open the door to the room. Cloud appeared on the other side, letting out a quiet, relieved sigh as he saw that he'd been released.
"What happened?" Sun inquired. The spell opened the door for me, so it's not broken. Maybe it only works from the outside?
"The door wouldn't open for me," Cloud answered simply.
"So you got locked in?"
Cloud nodded.
"Let me try."
Cloud moved aside, and Sun stepped into his room. A few seconds passed, and then he stepped up to open the door. The spell activated, and the door swung open on its own. Sun, puzzled, moved away from it, saying, "It works just fine…" He then motioned for Cloud to try.
Cloud obediently stepped away from the door, letting it close. It didn't open again. Sun cautiously encroached within the sensing distance, and the door swung open. How come it's only working for me— Wait! Of course! I feel like slapping myself for being so stupid!
Of course it won't open for Cloud! The spell is activated through sensory. If I, with a sensing ability so strong it can replace normal vision, am not able to detect his presence with my sensing, then there's no way that a simple spell could!
Aaah, with a breach like this, I'll be forced to revoke the spell. After all, we can't just have one door without the spell. Blaze would certainly attack that one all day long! But I don't want to return to having someone intrude on my facial mask every single time… Sun quickly stepped away from the door, letting it seal Cloud back in his room again. I'll just have to leave him here and hope that no one else finds him!