When we arrived back at the temple everything was... normal. Absolutely normal. The Knights sauntered about, the guards greeted us and nothing seemed amiss.

"What the..." Metal mumbled to himself, looking around in confusion. I, however, maintained my usual angry face, albeit a little stiff at the edges.

"It couldn't be bad enough that they're trying to keep it a secret to maintain peace, could it?" I asked Metal with a worried voice. Both our faces were grim as we strode to the meeting rooms, two extra people in tow. Said people seemed to have no understanding or care for the situation we were in, instead talking animatedly about Kadence's hometown.

Kadence is understandable, but Anastasia... I can't believe our future ruler has this little care for impending doom.

When we reached the meeting room I hastily pushed open the door and strode through before freezing, face twitching unintentionally. Behind me the conversation had even stopped. Because at the head of the table, looking vastly amused, was the devil himself.

"Long time no see, Little Judgment," He said in a happy voice, playing with his golden hair idly.

I had to avoid shivering in fear as I bowed politely before straightening, "We were informed there was a rebellion...?"

He shook his head, a big grin spreading over his face, "Nope! I was just saving you from the evil clutches of the King," He raised an eyebrow, "After all, it couldn't possibly be that you two chose to stay there intentionally to avoid me, right?"

I knew our faces betrayed it, but still tried to smooth it over, "Of course not. We wouldn't possibly have the audacity to avoid the former Sun Knight..."

"Maybe we should go," Anastasia said in quick, quiet tones as she tugged Kadence's arm, "We don't want to annoy them..."

Meanwhile a look of realization had hit Kadence. With wide eyes she pointed to the man, "Ah! Isn't that the devil man?"

Are you trying to get me killed?! Sob!

"Devil?" Grisia said indignantly, "Seriph you better not be off telling weird rumors again! Who is this anyway?"

"A friend from the North," Metal said calmly.

"Oh?" He stood and walked over to Kadence with a brilliant smile, "I'm Grisia Sun, former Sun Knight. Nice to meet you-"

He stopped talking, staring at her oddly. He then turned to look at Anastasia slowly, eyes wide. She glared back at him, fists and jaw clenched tightly. His gaze turned cold and he said in a detached voice, "I think you three had best get off to bed. I have something I need to talk about with the Princess."

I nodded quickly, grabbing Kadence's arm and leaving in a flurry of black robes. I kept walking for awhile after leaving the meeting room before letting go and slowing down, feeling my unease fade slightly.

"You weren't joking about Seriph not liking him," Kadence said in an amused voice to Metal, "Is it really okay to leave the Princess with him? He must be a monster."

"He's not that bad, really," Metal said reasonably, "Seriphs teacher was friends with him, so they spent a lot of time together. Plus he would never do anything to a Princess," He paused, looking thoughtful, "Probably not."

"If you had to spend that much time with him you'd dislike him too," I muttered bitterly as we turned the corner and entered the hall with our rooms, "I can't believe he sent a runner and faked a rebellion just to get us within range of him," I groaned, "I hope he doesn't want to drink with me again..."

"He's a drinker?" Kadence said, her interest immediately perked.

"Yeah," Metal said with a laugh, "But don't tell anybody. If it gets out that the former Sun Knight is a heavy drinker…"

He shook his head, looking amused. Meanwhile her face had turned confused, "Why?"

Metal looked at her oddly, "Well… Because he's the Sun Knight, even if he's retired…"

Her face was still blank, "And?"

I sighed, explaining in a quiet voice, "She doesn't seem to know anything about the Twelve Holy Knights."

"What?" He exclaimed, looking shocked, "There's no way she doesn't!"

"Hey, aren't you being a bit conceited?" She said as she rolled her eyes, "You guys don't seem that great…"

"We should take her to see Cloud," Metal said in an exasperated tone, "Maybe he can find a book to explain it to her…"

"Who's Cloud?" She asked, looking ready to laugh, "That's such a weird name! Almost weirder than Metal!"

"Urgh," He groaned, looking pained, "They aren't names, stupid. They're titles. I can't believe you don't even know that… even two-year olds know the Twelve Holy Knights! I'm talking about the Cloud Knight!"

She looked even more confused, "Does he like reading or something?"

"He's the librarian," I said absently as we walked, trying not to let the pitying looks Kadence was receiving bug me. If only they knew…

"… I thought you said he was a knight?"

"He is," Metal said seriously, laughter in his eyes.

"I'm starting to think you were all chosen to be knights based on how odd you are," She said, shaking her head.

We entered the library, which was mostly empty. At the receptionist desk, wearing a small pair of spectacles and handing one of the Holy Knight's a book, was Cloud. His white, wispy hair fell loosely around him, finishing below the table. He was wearing his uniform, looking severely out of place.

"Cloud, You're looking as forgettable as always," Metal said as we approached, waving his greeting. Kadence stepped on his foot, making him cry out indignantly, "What was that for?!"

"You shouldn't be so rude all the time," She complained, standing at the desk and looking at Cloud somewhat angrily, "And you shouldn't let him bully you!"

Clouds was confused, looking between us slowly. Kadence and Metal had begun to bicker quietly, so I explained in a hushed voice, "Sorry. She's…" How do I explain her? That would take forever… "Just ignore her. We're looking for a book on the Twelve Holy Knights for her to read. Do you happen to know…?"

He had already disappeared, reappearing in a moment with a thick book. He still looked confused, but said in a helpful voice, "There are illustrations inside as well. Do you need anything else?"

I shook my head, resisting the urge to smile in thanks. Instead I turned to back to Kadence and Metal. Kadence looked away huffily with a pout, while Metal looked wronged. It took all the control I had not to roll my eyes at the two.

"Here," I said in my usual cold voice, handing the book to Kadence. She accepted it, shifting its weight and looked discouraged.

"What? Don't read much?" Metal said in a sarcastic voice, rolling his eyes. I expected her to knee him in the stomach, but instead she blushed faintly.

"Shut up," She muttered angrily, face suddenly determined, "I can read it perfectly fine."

She turned huffily and left, her blonde hair trailing out behind her. Metal was looking shocked and a little guilty, while I had managed to maintain my face in its stoic mask.

"What was that about?" He said, sounding slightly annoyed, "What did I say?"

I didn't answer, merely shrugged and left quietly. He remained in place, obviously torn. I ignored it as I strode out to Kadence's rooms, where I knew she would be. After all, it was the only place within the Temple she really knew. The door opened easily, making my eyebrows raise slightly.

Don't just leave your door unlocked. Geez.

She sat inside on the bed and I entered, though she didn't look up. She had her legs crossed and the book opened in front of her, a large frown pulling down her eyebrows. I closed the door behind me and she looked up.

"You should apologize to Metal," I said softly, "It's his job to be rude. And I doubt he meant you any offense."

"Hmph," She looked back to the book, irritated, "He can do whatever he wants to."

"Why are you being so stubborn?" I demanded, feeling annoyed, "You can forgive me for torturing people, but you can't forgive him for a few insults?"

It was quiet for a few moments before she seemed to lose the wind in her sails, deflating slightly.

"I can't read," She muttered, pulling her head closer to the book. Her hair fell down, blocking my view of her face.

"What?" I asked, stupefied.

"I CAN'T READ!" She shouted, slamming the book shut and tossing it onto the end of the bed. She hugged her legs, burying her face in his knees.

Oh.

I walked to the bed and sat beside her, saying in a quiet voice, "I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

"It's not your fault," She growled softly, "You're too nice!" She sighed, sounding sad, "It's not even that important. I think I must have learnt once…" Her voice steadily became quieter, "I just forgot…"

"I can read for you, if you want?" I offered, picking up the book and turning to the first page idly. It was packed with words and illustrations, all on quite high-quality paper. The binding was leather and obviously expensive.

"No," She said, looking up and resting her chin on her knees to look at me with big, blue eyes, "You explain it."

And so I did. I explained the beginning of the Twelve Holy Knights, their expected personalities, their roles and why they were so important. She listened quietly, eyes on the book the whole time. When I finished she looked at me sadly, "Isn't that too cruel? To expect you to be somebody else?"

"You've heard why we need to," I said with a small smile, flipping through the illustrations until I landed on one of this generation. It had been drawn when we were still in-training, and all Twelve of us were lined up formally. I showed it to her, "We all chose this. It's not so bad. Everybody is really close…"

Well, I'm not… But still.

"Aw!" She exclaimed, pointing to me in the picture with a smile, "You look so young! So does Metal! And isn't this that Cloud guy?" Her eyes widened, "It's the drinking man! The red guy!"

I laughed, nodding, "His name is Jayden Blaze. He's pretty much the embodiment of the Blaze Knight."

"Who's that shiny person?" She asked, pointing to the blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy in the picture.

My chest clenched tightly and I said in a quiet voice, "That's Caelan Sun."

"Oh," She seemed to realize her mistake, her face turning regretful immediately, "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," I said, smiling in what I hoped was a reassuring manner before handing her the book, "It's late, I should probably head off. You should look at the illustrations. Generations of artist's drawing of the Twelve Holy Knights are in there. They might help you get a better idea of what we do."

She nodded silently, still observing the picture of the Twelve Holy Knights of this generation. I left quickly, rubbing my eyes tiredly before retiring to my room. Sleep found me quickly and I drifted off into the blackness, too tired for nightmares.

It wasn't long before I was awoken by a scream.

A very feminine scream.

I leapt out of my bed, grabbing my sword and black robe, tugging them on as I sprinted out of my room and in the direction of the scream; Kadence's room. When I arrived Metal, Blaze and Ice were standing in front of the door, calling out in worried voices and knocking loudly. I pushed them aside grimly before kicking the door down heavily, storming into the room with my weapon unsheathed.

When I arrived Kadence looked terrified, her mouth held tightly by a black figure. With one look I could tell it was a man; his build was that of a knight. He was wrapped in black from head to toe, two daggers sheathed at his waist. When he saw us he let go of Kadence, standing in front of her and unsheathing his daggers quickly.

In a rough voice he snapped, "Run, I'll hold them off."

I held my sword up, pointing it at him and saying in a cold voice, "The harsh God of Light will punish those who trample throughout his domain."

And I'll punish you for whatever the hell you were about to do.

"Go!" He snapped, looking back at Kadence briefly, "Quickly! We don't have time to dawdle!"

Suddenly she threw herself at him in a mass of flowing blonde hair, making my heart skip a beat. I stepped forward, aiming to strike him through with my sword before he could harm, or kill, her.

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOUR STUPID ENOUGH TO TRY AND FIGHT SOMEBODY WHO'S ARMED WITHOUT ANY WEAPONS! STUPID!

My attack stopped suddenly as she yelled out happily, "Brother!"

Aw. Kadence can't read. Or cut tomatoes. .

I hope you enjoy reading! It's finally the weekend. Sob.

Thanks for all the reviews. ^u^ The story is reaching an interesting part... Mwuahaha.