A Rose for Your Hair
by Lucathia
Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Sun Knight and make no profit from writing this.
Notes: Spoilers up to current translations of v6.
Part 2
Upon waking up, Metal didn't immediately inform me of what had happened around the Holy Temple during the three days I had been asleep, as we were too busy wrestling my hair under control. After Metal's attempts to chop off my hair, my hair seemed to have come to the decision that Metal was an enemy. Whenever he approached me, my hair would rise up in warning and dart out at him. If my hair could make noises, I had no doubt it would be hissing at Metal.
It was like it had a mind of its own.
Although Metal was very happy to update me on current events even while getting attacked by my hair, I commanded him to stay far away from me. I felt no need to add "hair" into our already unspeakable routine. Using whips, pokers, and beating sticks was more than enough...
The range of my hair was quite ridiculous, as it seemed to be able to stretch out at will, and the tendrils wanted to lash out if Metal made any sort of motion, so Metal ended up having to stand by the entrance. He kept a close eye on my hair, watching in fascination even as he made his report.
"Sun is still asleep," Metal said, knowing that that would be the first thing I wanted to know.
I frowned, and when I did so, my hair shook and drooped down, depressed. It only made me frown even more, and it made Metal even more fascinated.
Don't tell me my hair is going to show my emotions for all to see from now on?
"Is he sleeping peacefully?" I asked, worried.
Metal nodded. "Like a dead man."
That's not very reassuring.
"I assume he must be exhausted," I said, hoping that it was merely exhaustion. It could be no easy feat wrestling a person's life back from the God of Light. Even though he had paid a price, it was still going against nature to bring someone back to life.
And I ended up...gaining a gift in return, however unwanted that gift is.
As if it knew I was thinking about it, my hair drifted upwards once more. I absentmindedly petted it, hoping doing so would make it lie flat against my back instead of drift around, making me look like a tentacle monster. A strand of it curled around my hand, and another strand rubbed against my cheek.
Great, my hair adores me...
Metal watched me pet my hair, his eyes growing large. Then, he blurted out, "We locked Silent Eagle up."
My hair stiffened. I asked in a flat voice, "What happened?"
"The palace sent Elijah over, placing the blame of all the undead creatures running about on Silent Eagle. Since both you and Sun were asleep, there wasn't anything we could do to appease the palace. All we could do to protect Silent Eagle and to satisfy the palace was arrest Silent Eagle ourselves."
After Metal finished detailing what had occurred during the time I was unconscious, I murmured, "That was handled well." Under the situation where both Sun and I were not available, it was truly the best course of action to take. They did not know that the undead creatures were likely to be a result of Scarlet wanting to pressure us into handing Sun over. Even Sun didn't know, and it wasn't something we could tell the palace.
Metal smiled bashfully at my praise. I tried to will my hair to stop stiffening.
I must not let Sun find out. I must not let Sun find out... It has to remain a secret.
I had to keep it from him. That meant keeping everyone in the dark.
"How did Silent Eagle take his arrest?" I asked.
"At first, he refused to cooperate, but when we mentioned Sun, he became meek." Metal furrowed his brows.
Does Silent Eagle know that Sun is a demon king candidate? It would explain his obedience to Sun. After all, the demon king is the representative of the Shadow God.
My hair began tapping thoughtfully on my knee.
The question is, does Sun know his own identity yet?
I doubted he did, and I planned to keep it that way.
Silent Eagle, Scarlet, or whoever, I will permit none of you to take Sun away!
Grisia was the Sun Knight. Our Sun Knight.
"What should we do next?" Metal asked.
"Let me out, and I will handle it," I said. If I remained locked up, I wouldn't be able to protect Sun. I needed to reconvene with Sun's teacher to hunt Scarlet down. There was no telling what Sun might end up thinking if he learned of his identity. There was also no telling what kind of lies Scarlet would feed him!
Immediately, Metal spread his arms to block the door, as if I was going to knock him aside to make my way out.
"T-This might be Sun's orders, but I fully agree with him this time. You're not taking one step out of here!" Metal said fiercely.
It might have been the shock of Metal speaking against me. It might have been the shock of Metal actually following Sun's orders. My hair fell limply to my lap, as if the fight had gone out of me.
In fact, it had. I sat back, my moments before death flashing before me, reminding me of my foolishness.
"You dare keep me away from my child?"
I reached a hand to my neck. My hair curled around my wrist protectively. Even though the wound had already been healed, I thought I could still feel a sharp pain. For a moment, I was back on the dirt floor, my limbs unresponsive, blood pooling below me, seeping into my clothes.
I was cold. So very cold.
Who do I think I am? I've already died once and caused enough trouble, and yet I immediately wanted to cause more trouble...
I willed my hair to let go of my wrist. It slowly uncurled.
Perhaps I had gained this "gift" precisely because of the type of fatal wound that had killed me. What better way to keep my neck protected than to have hair that could be used as a weapon? If not for something like this protecting me and reminding me of what had happened, maybe I would end up dead once more, rendering Sun's sacrifice a waste. I wanted to protect Sun, but what was I actually doing? Was I protecting him, or was I endangering him instead?
Wasn't I just being a liability?
I told everyone not to die in Sun's presence, yet I went and did just that... Can I really protect Sun like this?
Throat dry, I said unwillingly, "Please. Please keep me confined."
Metal nodded solemnly. "Got it."
After Metal left to call the Pope over, I rested my head against my hand. My hair pooled around me like a black curtain, but it wasn't able to block out the images of Sun's hair turning colors, like what I had seen upon opening my eyes once more. Except, in my imagination, it didn't turn white.
Sun, you better wake up...
I clasped my hands together, as if in prayer.
In my imagination, it turned black.
You better remain the Sun Knight!
to be continued
A/N: Looks like I will be continuing this fic after all! It's mostly a means for me to explore Judgment's thoughts on volume 5 events. With the addition of Judgment's new magical hair, of course. But as you can see from this part, the fic is actually quite serious. Outside of the magical hair part, haha.
