Thirty years had passed since Lance and Blaine had passed away and became underworlders. In the years, the two had gotten jobs at a local parts store. Lance however, longed to be a member of the crusade, and became a dedicated fan of them, searching up on their many great victories, including: "delivers in The siege of Katogon, heroes in The war of the burning star, destroyers of the dark army in the war where the dark army was destroyed!" Lance listed to his brother, "these guys are practically legends! It's like us when we were alive!" "Yeah except that we didn't fight for mystic relics and slay obscene monsters." Blaine corrected, "Ok, there were some obvious differences between us and them, but we still have a chance to be knights in the afterlife!" "Lance, you were 6 when you mentioned that, and besides we had a good run in life! We were in wars too!" "Yeah if you count the battle between me and my horse a war!" Lance scoffed, "Look Lance, you just have to let the past go, we were knights in life but that part of our existence is over." Blaine replied, comforting his brother. "Maybe sorting a couple of horseshoes will get you out of your funk…."
Lance sighed and went to the horseshoe department and began sorting. He felt somber upon how his afterlife was going, compared to his life. This was a major disappointment, he missed the greatness, the adventure and the glory of his life, in his afterlife he's practically a nobody… the crusade was everything that he once was, strong, courageous and well loved by everyone. One day, one day in his afterlife he would finally become a member of these mighty warriors. And when that day comes, he's gonna—
Suddenly his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering and angry yelling was heard, the zombie turned around and saw someone wielding a crossbow and covered in a hood. "EVERYONE HIT THE FLOOR NOW! THIS IS A ROBBERY!" They yelled before shooting around the store, everyone immediately ducked in cover. The former knight's instincts kicked in and crawled on the floor until he reached the criminal. Once he was directly behind them he instantly latched onto them and thrashed around with them. The two twisted and turned about the store and slammed into the engine parts room and slammed some metal into the villain's head. They slammed Lance onto the ground and was about to knock him out but at the last second, the criminal was apprehended by another underworlder, and slammed them onto the ground. Lance looked at the underworlder, and to his shock, it was one of the crusade, a knight dressed in blue armor with grey straps two around the chest and one around the waist. The helmet had a large drop of water symbol in the face and on one of the straps, one shoulder guard was a wave of water and the other was in the shape of a pirate hat. The wrists had yellow wrist guards and the knees had yellow knee guards. The boots had light blue soles and raindrops on the sides. And finally an elegant blue cape that was like a tide. And carrying a gold yellow trident with blue gems incusted in it.
Lance looked at the crusader in awe, despite being an avid fan, he never met one of them in person. "You just gonna lay there or are you gonna get up?" The knight asked, showing their hand, their voice was that of a woman's. Lance snapped out of his trance and grabbed the knight's hand. "Y-You're a member of the crusade!" Lance stuttered, starstruck. "Armor gives it away doesn't it?" The knight chuckled, "I'm—" "Raindrop the knight of water! Wielder of Neptune's trident! Slayer of the serpent king of the boiling oceans!" "Someone's been doing their homework! You're a fan I recon?" "Down to my very soul!" "Well nice to meet a major fan, and those were some sweet moves back there!" "Yeah… I had a lot of training in my life…." "You know, you could really put those moves to use, ever think about joining the royal guard?" "Well I—" "excuse me but may I borrow him for a moment?" Blaine interrupted grabbing his brother by the shoulders. "It's alright I gotta go anyway, duty calls!" Raindrop replied before leaving the scene with the robber in hand, leaving the two to their own occords, "Blaine what the hell is wrong with you?!" Lance whispered angrily, "What the hell's wrong with me? What the hell's wrong with YOU!?" Blaine corrected, "You can't just swoop in thinking you can just defeat a robber with a crossbow, you could've gotten yourself killed again!" "I can't help it! I just went on instinct and tried to take him down! Maybe give him to the authorities!" "If you want to play the hero, then next time call the royal guard! Now come help me clean this mess…." Lance then grabbed a broom and dustpan and swept up some of the broken glass, this was going to be a lousy day….
Meanwhile, a large castle stood proudly in the heart of the underworld, it looked rather cryptic. It had eleven solid, square towers surrounding the castle, they reach twice the height of the walls and are connected by fairly low, thick walls made of light green stone. Crude windows are scattered generously around the walls in fairly symmetrical patterns, along with symmetric crenelations for archers and artillery. Within its broad walls the five crusade members: raindrop the knight of water, tremor the knight of stone, arcane the knight of magic, hurricane the knight of the skies, and snowstorm the knight of ice. Had gathered around the heart of the castle, the throne room, where they met with king scargoyal himself, he was a large and powerful being with large white and gray wings and a mask like face with large blue pupiless eyes. He was dressed in a dark gray gown with blue symbols sewn into the bottom and a yellow above the abdomen and bronze shoulder guards with oritimentes on them; one sun the other moon, around his neck were two necklaces, one bronze with a green eye at the center and the other made of small golden pieces and a metal slab with a small blue light in the center. He carried a gold scepter with blue highlights and a blue gemstone embedded in it, and finally wore a large golden crown with blue gemstone embedded into it. "Crusade, assemble!"
"Uh we have assembled your majesty…." Raindrop noted, "Oh, kinda weakens the dramatics… but well done!" Scargoyal announced, "what huve ya summend us up ye majesty?" Tremor said in his Scottish accent. "I have received a message from the stars…." The king replied worriedly, "she… will return…." The other knights gasped in shock, no, it couldn't be…. "You don't mean?" Snowstorm asked frightened, "Yes… The Shadow mancer…."
Thunder struck outside the castle, as that name echoed throughout the castle, everyone heard the stories about The Shadow mancer, and how everywhere she walked, fear and anarchy followed. "B-But that's impossible!" Raindrop stuttered, "Yeah she's been imprisoned in that tomb for a thousand years!" Arcane added. "Nothing is impossible…." King Scargoyal replied somberly, "with every ounce of fear people feel she becomes stronger, sooner or later she'll be strong enough to cast her dark magic, and then escape from her tomb…." "We huve tu du sumthing!" Tremor panicked, "indeed s-set up a security measure, double the guards, raise the walls, have everyone clog their toilets! We can't let that sadistic egomaniac march her way into the kingdom and take her revenge!" Hurricane screamed. "Calm down everyone, one's mind is like this when under stress…." Scargoyal reassured, "when under pressure it becomes difficult to see, the undead king then turned around at his throne. "But when they allow themselves to settle, the answer will light the way." With one quick thrust of his arms, the torches on each side of the wall lit up one at a time, ending with the answers in front of them, above them was was a wheel-like symbol with symbols of each of the different elements, water, earth, air, magic, ice, fire, light and dark, in each of the sporks. And small trident heads surrounding it and a star in the center. And on the sides were two symbols, a yellow sun and a purple moon. "Are you saying…?" Raindrop asked, dumbfounded, "yes… it is time…." The king replied sternly, after hundreds of years it was time. "But who will be given the secret of ancient wisdom?" Hurricane asked, astonished, "Who shall become, the knight of shadows and of the sun…?" The king chuckled. "Only one way to find out!"
The next day at the store, Lance finished his shift and went back to his home, an average house, and sighed, another day of being a nobody, to make matters worse his boss heard about his little heroics and because he 'didn't follow store protocol'. His boss docked some of his check to repair for the damages the robber caused. Guess what they say is true: no good deed goes unpunished. The zombie somberly walked past a pole before taking a step back and noticing the flyer on it. He immediately took a closer look at it. "Witness history in the making, Trials for the next knight of shadows and of the sun starting at the royal castle today at noon?!" Lance read before gleefully grinning, "The next knight of shadows and of the sun?! The underworld hasn't had one in hundreds of years!" He immediately took the flyer, this was practically the biggest moment in underworld history, there was no way in hell he was going to miss it! He was about to head over before realizing something and face palming. "Oh wait! Blaine doesn't get off till late afternoon! He'll probably miss the whole thing!" Lance then got an idea, and immediately rushed to his house and wrote something down and immediately rushed towards where the castle was….
After a very long time running, Lance finally made it to the trials just as the doors were about to close. He immediately took his seat at the front row.
As the trials were about to commence, the crusade and the king stood proudly as the events were about to take place. "Everything's looking perfect my knights, are the warriors prepared?" King Scargoyal asked, "Ready and willing, your majesty!" Raindrop replied, "excellent, now my knights, you must know that this isn't just my decision… it is the stars as well." Scargoyal informed, "Once they are chosen the decision is final, understand?" "Yes your majesty." The knights said simultaneously.
Meanwhile, at the house, Blaine had arrived home from work. "Brother! I'm home early!" He alerted only to be greeted by silence. "Lance?" He looked around but found nothing, until he found a note on the front door.
'Dear Blaine,
If you find this message then that means I'm currently at the auditions for the next knight of shadows and the sun. It would really be great if you could join me, the address is on the back of this note.
Your little brother,
Lance.
P.S. it's your turn to do the dishes.'
Blaine turned the note around and saw a flyer saying that trials for the next knight of shadows and of the sun were going on, Blaine sighed, he just wouldn't let the past go, he appreciated that he still had big dreams just like he was when he was alive and he had heroes and wanted to be just like them, but this was getting out of hand, and now he's probably sneaking into the trials and trying to become either the knight of shadows or the sun. He needed to find him before he got himself killed again. He immediately went out the door and to the castle.
Back at the trials, the ceremony had started as the king himself arrived at the center of the area alongside four other warriors behind him. "Ladies and gentle spirits, welcome to the first ever, trials of the next knight of shadows and of the sun!" Everyone cheered, especially Lance, who carried a flag and popcorn in his hand. "YEAH! LET'S DO THIS!" He screamed, the warriors lined up for their introduction.
The first warrior was a gargoyle with dark green armor and a metal tail, ending with a dagger. They had a kilt and carried two pole axes in their hands. "First is Krakos! A gladiator from the highmoon mountains!"
The second warrior wore an animal skin cape and belt. They had a metal sash around their body and wore a wolf skull mask,finally they carried a flailing mace. "The second is razorclaw! A hunter from the dreadland forest!"
The third warrior was covered in large rounded armor with horns and carried a halbert in his hand and a hole lit by the fiery light inside and two axes on his back. "This is kygore! a former guard from the skeleton kingdom!"
The final warrior was a large brutish zombie with an underbite and carrying a giant hammer and with chains that ran up his body and ended with a clamp around his neck, the only clothing he wore was a pain of worn out shorts. "And this is Umbregon! A titan from the molten mines that turned against his cruel masters!"
"These warriors were chosen from the four corners of the underworld to compete in a series of challenges that will determine their strength, speed and strategy!" Scargoyal continued. "Let the trials… COMMENCE!"
Meanwhile, Blaine raced towards the castle, hoping that Lance hadn't gotten over his head, or worse, lost it. He eventually found himself at the gates, but they were locked, Damn this is going to take a while…
At the same time, Lance watched as Krakos began his first challenge: dodging a hoard of flaming arrows. "Oooh the thousand arrows of sin!" He commented. The gargoyle dodge arrow after arrow and deflected them, the gargoyle had successfully completed his challenge and roared in victory as the crowd cheered.
Back with Blaine he tried best to get past the wall and find his brother but to no avail, the walls were too high not even a ladder could get there, he tried leaping over it with his jousting skills but he ended up hitting the wall. Just as he was running out of ideas, he noticed some fireworks left behind. "Oh… I am definitely gonna regret this…."
Meanwhile Lance watched through the trials, from razorclaw fighting surviving the gauntlet of umbrital devastation, to kygore defeating the twin titans of ouroborus, and Umbregon thrashing through the stone maze. But then it finally came, the final challenge. "Ladies and general spirits! The moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived!" The undead king announced. "This last challenge will determine which two warriors will be crowned as the knight of shadows and the sun!" The denizens of the underworld cheered as the four warriors stood proudly. "While the others will be greatly wounded or die again with honor!" The four warriors roared with pride and the crowd cheered with enthusiasm. "Now bring out the challenger!" The skeleton guards then grabbed two heavy chains and pulled them towards the area. The underworld looked in awe at the challenger, a large golem reminiscent of a gladiator made of stone and fire and an ax and spear of bronze and steel.
"This is the burning gladiator!" King Scargoyal announced proudly, "recovered from the molten flaming swamps of ka delmi!" The gladiator growled and slammed his ax on the ground making a gargantuan crack in the floor. The undead audience cheered while the warriors looked slightly frightened by the monster. It then raised its spear and began swiping the floor, the four warriors quickly dodged the monster's attacks and began to attack from all sides.
Lance was ecstatic, seeing these warriors battle out knowing that at least two of them were gonna be chosen to be the knights of shadows and the sun, he was also envious that they were gonna achieve his dreams of joining the crusade. Just as everyone was in the middle of the fight…
BOOM!
A giant flaming ball erupted out of the ground and fell downwards, suddenly as it fell, another being fell as well and landed next to Lance, the crowd gasped in surprise by this surprise as the being fell into his lap. "What in the dead?!" He gasped, soon the being rose as a familiar zombie with skinless lower jaw. "Ugh…" Blaine groaned. "BLAINE!?" "LANCE! WHAT THE ACTUAL F*(K IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Blaine aggressively got up and slapped his brother in the face. "Have you lost what's left of your brain?! The store thing was bad enough but going into an area filled with unbridled anarchy?! Are you trying to get yourself killed again!?" Blaine screamed. "What!? Ok A) I was entering this place as a SPECTATOR not a goddamn contest! I'm not suicidal!" Lance corrected, and surprised his brother. "And B) why the hell are those chains breaking?" The two looked at the area where the fireball had smashed into the ground and exploded into a barrage of rouge fireworks that blast into the chains that hold the gladiator, damaging it enough to cause the chains to split apart. The four warriors were instantly grabbed by the gladiator and were instantly thrown out of the ring like old trash. "Well, it appears that we both have made mistakes today…." Blaine commented worriedly, they were sooo going to prison for this…. "Not if we fix it!" Lance said proudly, "What!? Oh no nonono! You aren't doing what I think you're doing!" Lance didn't listen and rushed down towards the area itself. "Well you coming or what!?" He called to his brother. "I am not letting myself get torn apart limb from limb by that thing! Same should go for you as well!" Blaine announced. "Oh and you rather take your chances in prison? You know what they do to zombies in there!" Blaine sighed with either option it's a lose lose situation and regretfully joined his brother as the rest of the crusade fought the gargantuan monster. "So what's your idea for taking this thing down?" Blaine asked reluctantly, Lance looked around his environment and the monster, specifically the chains and got an idea….
"I'll grab the chains on the left, you grab the ones on the right!" Lance explained before rushing towards one of the chains and grabbing it. Blaine reluctantly did his part as well. "Now what!?" He hallowed. "Start pulling!" The two began pulling the chains with all their might and zombie strength. "Keep… pulling!" Lance grunted, "How is this supposed to help?!" Blaine groaned, "easy… the bigger they are…." The pull of the chains was so strong that it caused the magma monster to fall on it's back and smash into the ground. "The harder they fall!" The underworld denizens muttered amongst themselves before the crusade had the skeleton guards pull their monster away from the scene. "I told Tremor that bringing that thing here was a bad idea from the start!" Arcane groaned, "The next time we do this knight choosing ceremony, I'LL take care of the last challenge!" "Which will probably be tomorrow since the warriors we chose are probably halfway across the underworld by now!" The water knight groaned.
"Actually no…." The king interrupted, marching forward. "The true knight of shadows is amongst us…." Everyone gasped in shock. "What!? W-Who?" Lance stuttered, the king only responded by pointing. "Uh… who is the next knight of shadows?" "You… How very interesting… What are your names?" "Uh… Lance and Blaine shadows?" The underworld king gave a look of glee and grabbed Lance's arm and accidentally pulled it off. "Ladies and gentle spirits! The stars have sent us the next knight of shadows!" "Wait WHAT!?" Lance screamed in shock, followed by the gasp of everyone around them. The king then placed Lance's arm back into its socket. "My apologies…." "Wait wait wait! This has to be a misunderstanding!" Lance replied, slightly frightened, sure he was dreaming of this day but he didn't think it was actually gonna happen! "Lance has a point! For once in his afterlife." Blaine added, "How come him taking down that monster makes him the next knight of shadows when the guys you got went through worse?" "I could sense why those warriors entered the competition… for glory and greed… but you two… you prevented a catastrophe from happening, you showed honor, loyalty and devotion to the underworld, those qualities are more than enough to show that you are the next knight of shadows and of the sun!"
The underworld gasped by this sudden announcement. "Wait, he's now the next knight of the sun!?" Lance said surprised, before turning to his brother. "Then that means we're gonna be in the crusade together!" Lance hugged his brother with glee, "WE'RE GONNA BE KNIGHTS AGAIN! THIS IS AWESOME!" "Now, now, before you go and celebrate, you need to be knighted first!" The undead king halted before grabbing his scepter and two small buttons. "First, place these on your chest." The two quickly did what they said and placed the buttons on their chests. "Now kneel down and close your eyes…." The two kneeled down and shut their eyes as the king raised his scepter and placed them on their shoulders. "Lance and shadows for honor, loyalty and devotion to the underworld, you have been chosen to become members of the crusade!" He then raised his scepter and twirled it in the air slightly causing a surge of magic to form. "By the power vested in me and the stars I dub thee, THE KNIGHTS OF SHADOWS AND OF THE SUN!"
With one slam of the scepter the two brothers were engulfed in a flash of purple and yellow light. Pieces of armor started to form and wrapped around Lance and Blaine like armored bandages. They could feel a surge of energy flowing through their bodies and the armor encasing their bodies….
Once the process was completed Lance and Blaine were reborn into mighty warriors, Lance was encased in pitch black armor and blue pants with purple highlights, the arms had purple straps on the elbows with ghostly straps emanating from them and purple wrist guards and black armored hands and with blue arrows on the back of the palms. The legs had black knee pads with purple moons on them and black boots with wavy purple soles and moons on both sides. The torso had a large blue sash that wrapped around his chest with a purple aura around it and the black button that showed a purple moon. The abdomen had a white arrow above it and purple slashes on it and a purple belt with a blue buckle. The shoulders had two different guards, one straight that was purple and black, and the other leaning on its side with a purple triangle on the center, and the back and hips had pitch large black tassels that ended with arrows with purple diamonds embedded on the inside. And finally the head itself was pitch black with a large purple moon emblem embedded into it.
Blaine had been dressed in silver armor and gold pants, the arms had silver blades with yellow straps on the elbows and the hands light blue gloves with yellow stars on both sides. The legs had yellow stars on the knees and bright purple boots with bright suns on each side. The torso had three blue straps with yellow buckets, one of them was his button of the sun, and a blue belt with a sun buckle and a medieval sword holster, The shoulders guards were both silver and yellow plates, and the back had a bright purple cape with a sun on the back. Finally the head was silver with a large bright sun embedded on it.
The two brothers observed their new armored forms. "Wow… this is crazy… right Lance?" Blaine said to his brother but he answered with silence. "Lance?" "This… is… AWESOME!" Lance screamed into the heavens. "WE'RE BOTH MEMBERS OF THE CRUSADE NOW! JUST LOOK AT THIS ARMOR ITS FREAKIN BADASS! AND I FEEL SO… POWERFUL!" "I see you're enjoying yourself Lance!" King Scargoyal chuckled. "Just try not to let the power go to your head though." "Ok ok! Calming down…." Lance then took deep breaths to calm himself down after this sudden experience. "Now every knight has to have a weapon and you do as well…." Scargoyal continued, "Oh! Let me guess…" Lance then thought of what the weapon of the knight of shadows would wield. "Hmm… shadow… shadow…. Is it by chance a giant scythe?" "No sadly…" The king replied before conjuring the new crusaders' weapons, a pair of swords.
Lance's was a large Falchion with a sharp purple hilt with a white moon pommel. The blade itself was large and pitch black. "For you Lance, the shadow saber!" Lance immediately grabbed his sword, "Not exactly a scythe, but I'm not complaining!"
Blaine's sword was similar to Lance's with the purple hilt, but was less sharp, the pommel was a yellow sun and it was more of a fian sword. "For you Blaine, the solar blade!" Blaine grabbed his sword. "Hmm! I can work with this!"
"Now you two one more thing before you are officially members of the crusade!" The king then raised his hand. "Lance and Blaine shadows, do you solemnly swear by the will of the stars that you will use your powers for the greater good?" "Lance, are you sure about this? This is a big decision!" Blaine asked worriedly. "Blaine… remember why we became knights in our life?" Lance began, "we because we wanted to make the world a safer place, one that reeks of honor, justice and loyalty! And that we tried our best to do! Think about all the stuff we did when we became knights! We prevented war between our kingdom and the French! We escorted the princess to royal obligations with her and her father! We even slayed ruthless thieves and murderers! And we did it together not just as brothers but as best friends as well!" He placed his hands on his brother's shoulders. "Remember what I said when we were 8? We don't know but I'm sure what we'll face, we'll face it together! Brothers till the end?" Blaine thought about it for a moment, sure Lance couldn't let the past go but then again, it's his dream to become a crusader, ever since they arrived to the underworld, there was no means of standing in his way especially now that it's coming true. So you know what? It only makes sense that he'd join him! "Brothers till the end!" Blaine eventually said proudly and side hugged his brother before turning to the king. "We do!" They said with commitment. "Do you vow to defend the underworld with your afterlives and to protect the innocent with honor, loyalty and devotion to the people?" "Yes we do!" "Then I dub thee, true crusaders of the underworld!"
The king then aimed his staff at Lance, "Lance shadows I dub thee, ARCLIGHT THE KNIGHT OF SHADOWS!" The entire underworld cheered by this announcement before the king turned to Blaine. "Blaine shadows, I dub thee, SOLARIS THE KNIGHT OF THE SUN!" The underworld cheered once more by the new knight.
The two brothers, now knights, held each other hand in hand, this was a new chapter of their afterlives, a new era of the underworld with new adventures to await. "You ready Lance— I mean Arclight?" "You know it Blaine— I mean Solaris!"
Elsewhere, in an unknown location, a dark figure observed the scene through an ancient gaping window. "So… the next knights of shadows and the sun have been chosen…." The entity said in a hushed sinister and feminine voice. "No matter… it won't be enough… both life and death will be under my control… and once they do, chaos will reign…."