Chapter One: What is Your Name?
(Reina - 19 years old)
Story Start
An azure sky, glowing like a blue and white halo sent to bless the Capital of Lugnica by the Divine Dragon itself. A truly beautiful day by all and any accounts, a day filled with the laughter of children dashing along the market square, and the vendors hawking their wares with voices filled with hope for the future and the profits that may be found there.
As the young woman with eyes the very same shade of cerulean as that majestic sky returns her gaze back down to the streets and its lively inhabitants, she finds herself in a slight daze. Despite today being one of her rare days off, she still follows her usual patrol route weaving throughout the bustling streets of the Capital, like a well-oiled machine or a swordsman moving on instinct.
Indeed, as the crimson crowned Sword Saint reflects on herself, she cannot help but to feel some lingering disappointment with her behavior. Despite being ordered to take a break and relax so that she may serve the Capital again at her full-strength tomorrow she still cannot break her habit of constant vigilance.
Perhaps it is because she never truly tires, or because she knows that she must always be ready to take up her mantle as a replacement Sword Saint, but she has never been able to allow herself a chance to unwind. Afterall, even if she actually does try to separate herself from her sworn duty, she will never truly be able to be free of it. Every scream, every cry for help, and even the very sense that some injustice is afoot, the Sword Saint Reina will never be able to ignore these so long as she is blessed by the world.
While others may be able to put things out of sight and out of mind, she has always been denied this particular luxury, and she realizes that it is one she simply does not deserve. Even today while surrounded by the adoring masses who patriotically call out to her with pride, she knows that it is not the monster called Reina they are cheering on, but rather the Capital's ultimate blade called as the "Sword Saint".
A smile and wave followed by a polite greeting, standard and boring in every way imaginable, and yet she can tell by the looks in their eyes that both the children and the adults she addresses will remember her ever bland greeting for the rest of their lives. Simply by being born into the Astrea family, simply by receiving a blessing from the fickle lottery of life, the monster called Reina can be lifted up and adored as if she were some heirloom of humanity to be treasured by all.
It is after she finishes greeting the masses ignorant of her true nature that she is allowed to continue on her way, her pockets a bit heavier with candy bestowed upon her by awe-struck children and a single appa in her hand gifted by a gentleman with green hair and a physique that would naturally be expected of one working at his occupation. As she resumes strolling along her route, she continues to ponder what to do with the rest of this day she has been given to take a rest she neither needs nor deserves.
Continuing to browse a city whose vibrancy she is only spectating, Reina decides that she should take this opportunity to go and stroll through the slum district. The slum district is as one would guess from the name, a gathering of ramshackle housing held together by both the lowest quality rope one could find and prayers to the Great Sage in equal measure. While she knows that she is not supposed to patrol on her day off, surely no one could find fault with her if she merely decides to pass through the lowest point of the Capital on a whim?
The inhabitants of the slum district are generally predisposed to be distrustful of the knights of the realm, and while some of her compatriots may see this as a clear sign of their guilt, she understands that those who are subjected to these conditions can hardly be expected to trust or respect the defenders of the status quo that is holding them down. Verily as both Reina and the Sword Saint it is her duty to uphold the law, even if at times she does not feel very happy to do so, as it is her burden as well as her only pathway to whatever redemption she can receive.
Once she is nearing the entrance of the most expedient non-rooftop entrance to the slum district, she hears a feminine voice call out in distress, seemingly at first glance a young maiden being taken advantage of in an off beaten backstreet by some hoodlums. However her Divine Protection of the Actor swiftly informs her of what she had already come to understand through the forced falsetto, it is no maiden but rather a young boy calling out in what seems to be one of the worst falsettos Reina may have ever heard in her nineteen years of life.
Momentarily stopping to wonder whether or not this could be some sort of new trick developed by those unfortunate souls driven to mugging and petty thievery, she quickly decides that it is better for her to simply head directly to the site of the call. Regardless of any potential risk, as the Sword Saint and a weapon sworn to defend the people of the Dragon Kingdom, she must take any opportunity available to her to save those in times of peril.
After turning the corner and entering the alleyway, she is shown a rather concerning scene of what appears to be a frightened young man of foreign dress being accosted by three clearly hostile men. It is only a split second until she calls out and draws attention to herself in order to try and resolve the incident without the need for pacification.
[Reina: Excuse me, but would you all please cease hostilities and sheathe any weapons drawn? As a Royal Knight of the Kingdom of Lugnica I am afraid that I cannot look away from any crimes being committed in front of me, especially those committed using violence.]
All at once the three previously hostile young men turn towards her, whilst the leader begins to form a glare on his face, it does not take more than a moment for the realization of who she is followed by the dawning horror to appear clearly on his face. His compatriots follow suit soon after, and a temporary hushed stillness takes over the previously noisy alleyway.
[Reina: Thank you for your cooperation. As it seems you no longer have the desire to perpetrate any crime, I will allow you to leave both unharmed and free so long as you exit this place immediately.]
The ocean blue eyes that normally glitter like polished cobalt in the sun slowly turn cold after delivering her line. While it is certainly unbecoming of a knight to show this kind of villainous face, so long as it could help resolve the situation without bloodshed, it is a shame she is willing to bear.
After the three deliver some clearly insincere flattery and apologies that her Divine Protection of Wind Indication declares as resoundingly false, they scatter and flee before her like any sane man would when encountering a monster. Once the three had totally cleared the alleyway, the "damsel" in distress on the ground suddenly speaks up as if he had finally come to terms with the fact that the situation was resolved, and he was safe and in possession of all his belongings.
[Subaru: My brave lady! Please allow me to thank you sincerely and completely from the bottom of my heart for your timely aid and rescue. I, this Natsuki Subaru, truly admire the young lady's noble bearing and upright heart full of beauty and selflessness.]
"My brave lady"? When was the last time that she had heard herself called anything other than some variation of Reina, Sword Saint, or monster? Furthermore upon closer inspection of his now upturned and outstretched palms, ones that are noticeably lacking any indications of hard labor, it would appear that the young man she had rescued was in fact a noble.
As she fought down the rare thrill in her heart from being able to speak with a foreigner who not only did not recognize her, but also seemed to see her as a lady before a knight or Sword Saint, she began to make eye contact in order to assure the young man that it was merely a matter of the would-be muggers losing their numbers advantage that caused them to flee. It was only as she finally laid her sapphire eyes onto his deep brown ones framed by midnight black hair that her Divine Protection of Soul-Viewing activated.
While she normally had complete control over when and where the blessing activated, it seemed as if the world itself demanded that she stare through his eyes, the windows to the Od, and look upon the threads of his very being. Though it filled her with disgust that she was going to be forced to violate the young man's privacy, she braced herself to receive whatever punishment he saw fit for such a terrible transgression. It was only after the protection fully took hold of her mind that she realized there would be no way to brace for what she would feel.
Pain
Such terrible pain, pain she had never felt before, pain she could not comprehend, pain that she never expected to suffer-
Fear
A chilling terror floods her very being, fear for her life and other such alien emotions suddenly crash into her mind and soul as-
Obsession
The absolute need to protect her, whoever she is, I must save her, I promised, I promised, I promised, I-
Interloper
A cold sense of numbness takes over her soul as she more feels than sees a black hand made of envy and spite materialize in this new shadowy plane she has been dragged to. Just as it starts to wag its finger like an owner scolding a dog, it begins to reach toward her as if to pluck an appa from a low hanging branch, though she is forced to understand exactly what this hand is going to do to her through the knowledge granted to her by the Od Laguna.
As if hearing and understanding her plight, she feels an ancient presence she recognizes as the very same Od Laguna begin to push away the darkness, and whatever horror was attached to the hand with it. While she had never even been touched by the inky manifestation, she still felt as if she had been drained of some sort of vital energy. As she begins to return back to consciousness, she faintly hears an enraged scream followed by the sound of a vicious sandstorm's roar accompanied by the thunderous sounds of chains being pulled taught.
Blinking her eyes, she realizes that while she had seemingly spent hours being bombarded by what felt like the emotions of a victim of the Kingdom's interrogation squad, she had in fact only been absorbed for a moment. Instantly allowing herself to fall into her Divine Protection of the Actor in order to hide her shock, she quickly gives what would appear to all outsiders as a heroic smile followed by a friendly greeting.
[Reina: It is my pleasure to serve the people of Lugnica in every way I can, but if you feel so indebted then I would like to ask you for a small favor.]
Glee seems to spring up in his eyes as he nods in affirmation. As she looks at his lips beginning to take shape, she realizes that he is preparing to give another verbose speech containing his solemn oath to remember her forever or some other such grandiose promise. Quickly intervening in order to begin the first step on her new plan to quickly unravel the mysteries surrounding the young man that has come to catch her eye, she asks him the simplest and safest question she knew.
[Reina: Then with your permission please allow me to ask you something.]
[Reina: What is your name?]
AN:
Man oh man, please allow me to start this off with an apology to those of you who have been waiting for me to post this chapter. I had finished it a while ago, but every time I would read it, I would suddenly feel like I had written the worst affront to literature to ever exist on the internet and delay.
I would also like to thank everyone who gave me their encouragements in the reviews, after wrestling with myself for a while and staring at the support this community generously gave me, I finally decided that a month was too long to wait and so I forced myself to post regardless of any anxieties I was holding.
Finally I would like to thank my friends over on Reddit who helped encourage me to even begin writing in the first place. In particular I would like to thank u/Pixman2581 for bringing up the idea in the first place, as well as all of those that commented on my original post giving me ideas and warnings of pitfalls to avoid.
Thank you once again for your time in reading my chapter, and I hope that I can receive all of your advice on what I am doing wrong or right in the reviews. I do not want to promise a date for the next chapter only to disappoint everyone, so I will sign off with a promise that I will have the next one done significantly faster than in a month.
(PS: Does anyone know how strict FFnet is about the picture policy? I have a cover image I think is pretty cute, but it is definitely a little suggestive, and I think the artist who drew it deleted their Pixiv profile so I cannot really reach out to ask for permission. The only reason I found it was because it got saved in some guy's Imgur curation page.)