With a small sigh, Kayle tapped twice on the wooden door in front of her.
She had decided to talk.
It was unjust for the young summoner, Jasmine, her name was, to take all the blame for the Judicator. That simply was not right, and Kayle could not accept such an irresponsible act. She was never a person like that.
"From now and unto the bright, infinite future, you represent the very self of justice, the paragon of our nation..."
Upon hearing a soft "come in" from the room, the angel firmly pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Jasmine.
The sweet scent of jasmine flower lingered within the small, cozy room of the young summoner. In the center of the room stood a rosewood round table surrounded by a couple of chairs made of the same material. Atop of the smooth surface of the table, sat a crystal ball with small holes scattered across its surface; jasmine leaves and peddles were heated by runes within the small device, emitting streams of flower-scented smoke steadily, giving the room a misty appearance. Beside the crystal ball was a tea pot and a couple of teacups, one of which was held by the girl that Kayle had been looking for.
The young girl was sitting on one of the chairs, legs separated, reading the Journal of Justice. Kayle had not taken a good look at her summoner last time, because her face was hidden in her hood.
No, that is a lame excuse. You did not see her face because you were looking at the floor when being scolded by her.
Kayle gave Jasmine a quick scan while she was still reading. She had a round face, her hair long and jet black. Her big, light brown eyes had a piercing focus in them. From the smirk on her face, Kayle was quite sure she was reading "the Eye Inside" - a page that was filled with juicy gossip about famous people and champions alike. She was not wearing her summoner robes, nor was she wearing any formal attire. All the summoner wore was a gray tank top and a pair of white shorts. A yellow jasmine flower hung loosely in her hair to add a touch of cuteness, or color, or a bit of both, the angel did not bother to come up with a conclusion. Fashion was not one of her keenest interests, and would never be one.
"Please, sit! Don't stand around like a statue, you wanna bore me to death?" The girl snorted, but her eyes were still glued to the magazine, clearly having no idea who stood before her.
So the Judicator complied. She pulled a chair opposite to Jasmine's, pressed her huge white wings tightly against her back, sat down, removed her helmet, letting her long strands of blonde hair fall freely onto her shoulder. Jasmine giggled, she might have read something funny. With a small thud, Kayle placed her golden helm on the table. Responding to the sound, Jasmine finally looked up.
The young summoner's jaw dropped. Was that fear on her face, or was that astonishment? Kayle could not really tell. Finding herself caught in a rude position and in her casual wear, Jasmine decided to immediately shove the magazine between her thighs and clamp them shut, while chuckling in embarrassment.
"H-hi Kayle, w-what's up?"
"About what you mentioned earlier-" the Judicator spoke in her usual, serious tone, but was cut by Jasmine's trembling voice.
"I'm sorry! I'm so so so so sorry! I shouldn't have told you off, oh how rude of me. You are here to punish me right? For what I have done? Oh god... Please, I know yelling at you was very offending but I didn't mean it. I saw a problem, so I wanted to fix it. And in order to fix a problem, I have to understand it first... No no no... Not that I am saying you are a problem, of course you're not!" the summoner stood up and started pacing back and forth, babbling her explanations.
"Jasmine," Kayle stopped her by placing a hand on the summoner's shoulder when she paced by to calm her down, and she did more or less. "Listen, I... About the previous conversation..." A pang of shame welled up in her heart and kept the words from leaving her mouth. Asking someone for help, especially from someone much, much younger than herself, was not something the Judicator was familiar with. Kayle was a heroine, a leader, the exemplar of her people. People come to her for guidance, not the other way round.
Yet she is right, I am a problem.
"Y-you wanna... Talk, Kayle?" Her eyes stared right into the angel's.
The angel's cheeks grew red, she looked away and nodded slightly. How did she know that? Are my thoughts that exposed?
"So, what do you want to talk about?" the young girl asked tentatively.
The angel kept her mouth shut. She never liked it when people could read her mind like an open book.
"It is about Morgana, isn't it?"
An uncomfortable tension clutched at the Judicator's heart as Jasmine once more took a right guess.
"What happened before she rebelled? How were you two like?" Jasmine inquired with a new found curiosity shining in her eyes, and it made the angel felt worse. Should she answer the summoner? She simply came here to talk, not to tell her tales. Yet what she wanted to talk about was indeed her past...
After hesitating, Kayle gave in and began her story. "Everything was... Perfect." Perfect, a word that rarely came out of the Judicator's mouth. When she said it, she meant it, every syllable of it. "Being the only children of the family, and as the elder sister, it was my responsibility to take care of her, and I did. I taught her the virtues we uphold. I taught her how to be independent. When she asked, I answered; when she questioned, I explained. I did everything I should as a sister."
"So were you just fulfilling your responsibilities as a sister? Were there any emotions? Love?"
The angel paused for a moment.
"Perhaps..." the Judicator muttered, her eyes drifted towards the setting sun beyond the window. The angel's armor deflected rays of golden sunlight, bringing a warm shimmer into the room. Kayle's face blushed slightly, but the bright sunset covered it well, as she answered in an almost inaudible voice. "Perhaps too much..."
"How come?" Jasmine tilted her head, barely hearing the troubled angel, "there's no such thing as too much love. What happened?"
"Things had been building up since she and I were young, I reckon, but they had not gotten... wrong until the Battleborn Ceremony."
"What is that?"
"It was a knighting ceremony. I, along with a dozen of other dedicated individuals were knighted as Battleborn that night, a prestigious group of soldiers who vowed to bring justice a upon the world, and to root out any imperfection." Seeing the young summoner was still looking at her attentively, Kayle resumed.
"There I stood in a line beneath arches of marble, on top of a gilded stage. All of us were clad in our new Battleborn armor, hands gripping tightly onto our new blades, wings folded to our backs. The new armor and sword were heavier than what I was used to at the time, yet I stood straighter than ever, for the honor of serving my family, homeland and fellow warriors had forged me an adamant will. I was ready for anything. Or so I thought."
"Uh... One more thing, I wonder what this Battleborn armor of yours look like? It certainly isn't the set you are wearing now, is it?" the intrigued girl asked, while pouring some tea into another teacup, and pushed it towards her unexpected, yet welcomed guest.
"You are correct," with a small thank-you, the Judicator picked the cup up for a sip (and yes, it was jasmine tea), and continued. "It was made of argentium, a metal native to my home world. Curved plates were lined up to form different parts of the armor. The most noticeable piece was the shoulder guards I believe, the size was large enough to provide our heads some protection. Beside the large shoulder pieces, the armor was blessed to protect us from magic. The weapon I held was different as well. Paragon was her name. She was a double bladed broad sword, with a distinctive gap on the flat of the blade that splits her into two sides... But I no longer wield her nor do I wear that suit of armor anymore, unless a summoner requests me to do so on the fields... I must apologize for digressing, let us move on."
"Actually... Never mind, go ahead!" Jasmine cheered. She decided not to further dwell on her curiosity, because helping the champion was her goal, not digging out trivial facts of someone else's.
"Right. At the time, the high council, the military and family members of the new Battleborns were all present. Standing on the stage, I could see everyone, everything, and they the same. When everyone is watching you, talking about you, but all you can do is to stand still and let them do so, it can be quite frightening, especially for a twenty year old. Then came our commander, and his presence ceased all the chattering inside the hall. A very sudden change, it was, and it unnerved me even more. I still remember me trying my very best to suppress the urge to wipe away beads of cold sweat that slowly trickled down my neck. " Kayle chuckled and picked up the cup for another sip. I could not even handle a crowd of people that was about to congratulate me, how inexperienced I was.
"The commander then came before us and began the knighting ritual. We all kneeled on one knee, facing the commander. I could hear my own heart pounding fast, so fast with anticipation that it hurt." the angel closed her eyes as she spoke solemnly. "I then closed my eyes before his sword touched me, for I wanted to feel the three taps that I had waited for years."
Left shoulder. Then right. Then on the head.
"Then he said," the angel squeezed her eyes even tighter, "'From now and unto the bright, infinite future, you represent the very self of justice, the paragon of our nation...'" She had forgotten his face, but his forcible voice had been echoing in her mind ever since.
"That sounded very serious for a twenty year old, even for an angel like you," Jasmine said with a soft tone, as if the weight of the vow had suppressed her voice. "Was that not tough for the you back then? Ya know, to take up such a role?"
"I had... people supporting me. My comrades, my friends, my family." Kayle answered. The sunlight had almost faded, leaving only a few fine lines of gold and orange in the living quarters of the summoner's, not enough to conceal the angel's, once again, reddened face, so she picked up her near empty cup and brought it close to her mouth to hide the blush. "... And her."
"Morgana?"
Who else could she be?
The judicator only nodded in reply.
Jasmine's cozy room went cold with awkwardness as the two struggled to find words to say. Kayle had never spoken about her past to anyone before, not to mention it was something that was buried so deep inside her heart; something had been hidden for a long, long time. Gazing beyond the window once again, the Judicator could no longer see the fading sunlight, all that was left was the clear night sky and faint stars that shimmered afar. It reminded Kayle something.
How they hadgone wrong.
The angel took a deep breath. Was she ready for it? Was she sure? Swallowing the last sip of tea, the angel set her cup on the wooden table and steeled her mind.
"After the ceremony, I went to the balcony for some fresh air. Breathing was not an easy task when a crowd of politicians, new and old, appears out of nowhere and chokes you with hypocritical congratulations and questions of fake concern. Just freshly knighted, and I was already pulled into the world of politics. A whole night of hand shaking had drained my energy dry." Never did she enjoyed socializing with politicians. Kayle was aspired to bestow justice and deliver peace, not to be dragged into political nonsense and side with the "more just" side. She knew that all their goals at heart was to maintain justice and an equal world, yet to accomplish it, they deceived, plotted, and did much more. And for that, Kayle despised them.
"The sky was just like tonight... The night breeze was much more welcomed than being caged inside a suffocating hall filled with liars. The mild wind was more than a bit refreshing." the Judicator said. Her throat and lips went dry, was it the aftertaste of the tea? Not likely.
More like your fear of being judged yourself, Judicator.
It did not take Jasmine long to notice Kayle's pause, "I-If you don't feel comfortable, Kayle, we can stop, like right now." The summoner offered. She sounded being let down by someone a friend, but then she brushed the disappointment away with her goal: to help the champion.
The angel shook her head. She wanted to open her heart up. She had to. It was too much of a burden to her.
"She came up from behind, and gently stroke my folded wings with her hands, from the margin, up to my joint, then down the longer feathers. From that, I knew it was her, for I allow no one else but her do that. I turned around and saw her in her usual yellow dress, her red feathers had an elegant maroon hue under the night sky. " Kayle always believed that Morgana was more beautiful than herself, but that night, she found her sister more than stunning.
"Then we uh... She and I uh..." the angel gulped. She had never imagined exposing her secret, not to someone like Jasmine. Not that the summoner was a bad person, but she just looked so... inexperienced and immature.
Yet here I am, about to tell her about it.
"She..." Kayle mumbled. "kissed me. Twice."
"That's it?" Jasmine cocked her eyebrow with slight amusement. "Don't tell me you don't kiss someone you endear and love. Come on, there's no reason for you to be ashamed or anything."
"H-hey," Morgana said sheepishly, her eyes avoiding Kayle's, "congratulations, sister..."
"Th-thanks." a faint smile curled up on the Battleborn's lips as she turned around to face her sister. She was happy. A stressful time it was, for Kayle, but her sister was there for her, to support her, to be with her. She could not ask for more.
"Most of your time will be occupied by your duties and trainings from now on," the younger angel stepped closer to her sibling, eyes still averted, as she spoke with a bitter voice, "You are going travel around frequently... Just... Promise me you will stay safe." She did not want her sister to join the army, or leave the family, or leave her.
"I promise." the older sibling was gently backed to the railing of the balcony, but she too focused on listening to her sister to notice the impact.
Morgana shut her eyes and swiftly wrapped her hands around her sister's waist for a tight embrace, her head snuggling into Kayle's neck. The older sister heard soft sobs coming from her sister, and in response, she pulled the younger angel even closer, one hand fondled her silky blond hair, another patting the soft spot between her wings. There was a long, quiet pause before Morgana whispered, "I'm going to miss you... Kayle."
Just when Kayle opened her mouth for a reply, Morgana broke the embrace and leaned in to give her sister a peck.
On the corner of her mouth.
The soldier inhaled sharply, her armored hand instinctively went to touch the scalding spot. A rush went from her chest to her head, throwing her mind into a whirlpool; her heart throbbed frantically. Her breathing shortened and became shallower. She felt light-headed, dizzy, as if she was about to pass out.
Without waiting for a reaction from her sister, the younger angel leaned in for another kiss.
On her lips.
The pressure was strong, forceful. For the first time, Kayle felt the moist of her sister's full lips as their mouths melded into one. For the first time, she saw the deepest desires of her sister's. For the first time, she tasted the bitter-sweet hidden within their hearts.
Kayle opened her eyes, her face was an inch away from Morgana's. She never remembered closing her eyes... Her sister was blushing heavily, her breathing erratic... She looked adora- That was not right. Women being together with another women was not entirely forbidden in their homeland, but they were siblings...
After a pause that felt like eternity, Kayle managed a few words, "We shall not... do this again..." Morgana leaned in again, but stopped herself half-way. She backed off and looked into her sister's eyes for one last time before she made a quick spin and left, leaving the elder sister alone on the balcony once more.
"What was so, so wrong is that the kiss felt... Right." Kayle covered her face with both hands in shame.
And I wanted more.