The 82nd Sun
Knock Knock!
Always! I wanted to scream furiously. They always interrupt me just after I've applied my facial mask!
I tetchily set down a thick stack of documents and picked up a wet cloth to clean the rose-colored slime off my face. Knight-Captain Hell always joked that it had been a while since such a dutiful Sun Knight had been chosen, but I personally found paperwork to be a welcomed excuse to hide in my room all day. I was fortunate enough to be blessed with naturally pale skin, but the drawback to that was instead of turning brown, after a while my skin turned an awful redish pink! And it hurt. I wasn't about to waste my precious holy light on a skin condition when a mask was just as effective and doubled as a moisturizer. In that regard paperwork was a blessing. Besides, whatever work I couldn't finish on my own I just passed it off to other people with a glowing smile on my face that no one could ever refuse. It was an arrangement that I liked very much.
However, the majority of this stack actually belonged to Knight-captain Hell. Judgment insisted I take care of it since I had (in his words) "purposely" sent Hell away on a long mission. And there was no arguing with Judgment. Ever.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
I grumbled before asking, "Which holy knight brother seeks to converse about the benevolence of-"
"It's me," a deep voice answered.
Speaking of Knight-Captain Judgment, I thought. "One moment, Sun is-"
Before I could say 'God of Light' Judgment interrupted me by stating very clearly, "Knight-Captain Hell has returned."
"Oh? He's back early." I mused thinking something was just a bit odd.
Usually Hell complained- …er, "reported" to me directly. It was rare for anyone other than myself or the members of the Hell Knight platoon to even see Knight-Captain Hell. The mission must have been more unpleasant than I had originally anticipated if Hell had decided to blatantly ignore me and use a messenger instead.
"He's been injured." Judgment explained. "He won't let anyone near the wound, but you or the Pope. I've already alerted the Pope-"
"I'll be right there!" It was my turn to interrupt. I quickly washed my face without bothering to be graceful about it if no one could see me.
Hell was injured.
I didn't think it was serious.
Hell had made it all the way back to the temple, after all. If the wound had truly been serious then I doubted Hell would have-
"...even made it back." I swallowed a swig of wine, but the uneasy feeling in my chest was growing by the minute. The one who had ordered the reconnaissance was me. Whatever the outcome of my order was, it was still my responsibility. The Twelve Holy Knights were my responsibility.
Sometimes I really hate this job.
I opened the door to see that Judgment was the only one standing in the hall. He nodded signaling the "all clear" so I could dash to Hell's side without worrying about appearances.
Speaking of "appearances", there was a very specific reason why only myself and the Pope were allowed to treat Hell's body...
You can't be the Sun Knight because you're a- But before he could finish his sentence, the 81st Hell Knight was interrupted by the sound approaching footsteps.
He and his young student instantly moved to hide in the shadows of the corridor. As professional spies revealing their identities was forbidden. Both teacher and student covered the lower half of their faces with black cloth-masks and waited quietly for the people to pass by.
After a few moments the duo relaxed. The grace of the approaching pairs of feet was a dead giveaway to their owners' identities.
Knight-Captain Sun, the older Hell Knight moved into view and greeted his superior with great respect. His student was only a half beat behind and also bowed slightly in respect to the shining figures.
Ah! It must be by the will of the benevolent God of Light for this unworthy servant to meet his fellow knight-brother, Hell, who has returned from out of the darkness and into the view of the light. The 81st Sun Knight greeted. Sun cannot help but ponder what could possibly be the God of Light's reasoning for this fortuitous meeting?
(Translation: Greetings Knight-Captain Hell, what brings you here?)
Knight-Captain Hell waited patiently for his Sun Knight to finish speaking before replying.
I felt that it was time for the future Sun Knight to meet the future Hell Knight, He explained. Meanwhile I can brief you on the outcome of my last mission.
The Sun Knight nodded while smiling in apparent agreement and the two adults moved to another space so that the younger generation could get acquainted.
Then there was a very long and awkward silence between us.
Since only the top half of the future Hell Knight's face was visible, I could only see a head of thick auburn hair and a pair of big blue eyes shamelessly staring down at me. I couldn't help but think that he was pretty tall and skinny for a sixteen year-old boy.
While trying not to let the other party know I was feeling uncomfortable I asked, Would it be possible for me to gaze upon my future knight-brother's face under the light?
I wasn't as good as my teacher at adding "by the will of the God of Light" to every third word yet.
No, was the instant reply. Only the Sun Knight and the Pope are allowed to know my identity.
Ah, but I'm going to be the Sun Knight, I said. So it should be okay, right?
Then when you officially become the Sun Knight you'll know my identity. The young Hell Knight seemed very firm about the idea.
I got the sudden impression that the future Hell Knight was a very serious person, so I tried changing the subject. Where did you go for your last mission?
We just came back from another continent, the young Hell Knight replied without specifics. The tea there was really good.
Tea? I wondered what the meaning behind that reply could mean. However, rather than dwelling on it I asked, What were the countries like?
It was really strange, future Hell replied.
I waited a moment to let Hell explain without my urging. I was only killing time until teacher returned anyway.
Um… In.. In one country the people there think that cows, rats, slimes and other odd things are sacred. My future Hell Knight looked at me uncertainly as if expecting me not to believe it.
After seeing that I was still listening, the youngster continued-
They say that their god is in everything... or that everything is an aspect of their god.
After thinking a moment Hell's explanation began to flowed on…and on.
It was a little bit confusing at first, but when I listened to their gurus... uh, that's what they call their priests... I think... Well I thought it was really interesting. I thought it was really cool to think of the whole world being part of the gods and that all the gods were really like arms and legs of a single god. I still wanted ask them a lot more questions. I was pretty sad to leave.
I was suddenly worried that I had miscalculated and rather than a serious Hell Knight, I would be stuck with a serious AND chatty Hell Knight.
I put on my Sun Knight smile and scolded, Oh, so do you not believe in the God of Light anymore? But aren't you going to be a Holy Knight pretty soon?
The little Hell knight looked shocked for a minute and then began stammering, W-well, I may have my doubts about the existence of gods a little...or maybe more than a little… Ah! …b-but I think this Temple suits me just fine! Please don't worry about that!
I thought it was rather amusing to see my future Hell Knight shift from serious to flustered so quickly. I tried to picture his red face hiding under the mask. He was probably a pretty boy so his teacher didn't want anybody to get a good look at him. I thought it would be bad if anyone remembered his face, but that just made me even more curious.
Really? I asked innocently. I wanted to tease him a bit because I was a little jealous that while this youngster was traveling the world, I would spend most of my prime years trapped working inside the temple. Hiding my mischievous aura I insisted with goodwill, But if you don't believe in the God of Light, you shouldn't have to force yourself.
I'm not forcing myself, future Hell promised while moving about somewhat panicked. The clerics of the Church of the God of light are the best healers in the world!
Clerics? Who said anything about clerics?
Hell's expression became so bright that I could even see it under the black mask. In a happy tone that almost sounded like bells, my future Hell Knight said something I'll never forget.
I think the power to heal is the most amazing power in the world! Hell's beaming expression turned serious again when he said, I still may have doubts… but if gods exist then I want to believe in a god like that. A god who can heal!
Instantly after making such a bold declaration to the future Sun Knight, I got the feeling that the future Hell Knight started blushing uncontrollably under the mask. In order to hide embarrassment the young spy disappeared back into the shadows and, from what I could tell, was gone.
It was at that moment that both my teacher and the older Hell Knight returned chuckling.
Future knight-brother Hell seems rather shy, I said with a shrug, not bothering to dedicate that sentence to the God of Light.
My teacher me an amused grin and said, You've been blessed with some truly talented future knights.
Older Hell chimed in with, Even though you'll find this out later I might as well tell you now.
I looked up at him confused, but I was all ears.
The older Hell Knight snickered a little and said in stern tone, You shouldn't really address my student as "brother" because it's actually "older sister".
EEEEEEEHHH?!
That's right, Knight-Captain Hell is actually a woman (and she's really only just a few months older than me, so I consider the "big sister" thing to be total crap).
There have been a handful of female knights before, but it's always been kept a secret from the public. Gloria Hell is the first female Hell Knight in over a hundred and fifty years. She was chosen because her teacher needed help on a special mission. "Glo" showed great promise as not only a spy, but as a holy knight. A single girl proved more useful than any of the young boys at the Hell Knight selection. But even as a holy knight she was still part of the "cold-hearted fraction" and thus wasn't very skilled at using healing magic.
When I arrived at Hell's room several clerics were hovering anxiously around the injured person in question. They offered Hell fresh bandages, but when they got too close they were instantly shooed away. One or two were begging Hell to remove her armor, but she blatantly refused. I could understand why. Once that breastplate was removed there would be a lot of explaining to do.
One of the clerics saw me. "Sun Knight!"
"Please let Sun take care of this matter." I said as politely as I could. "By the will of the God of Light, I will see that Hell receives treatment and the God of Light's blessings. If it is God of Light's intention, then Knight-Captain Hell should make a speedy recovery."
The clerics nodded and saw themselves out. Thankfully somebody remembered to close the door. I knelt down by Hell's bed started the incantation for 'Moderate Heal', but she roughly grabbed my arm to stop me.
"N-no! The-" She hissed clearly in pain.
I noticed she was clutching her shoulder unnaturally. As a holy knight and the temple's spy, Hell had a remarkably high tolerance for pain. I knew this wound had to be different. I observed that there was a hole that went straight through her armor and underneath was packed full of blood covered bandages. For the sake of the patient I didn't lose my Sun Knight composure, but inwardly I began scowling darkly.
"Th-there's a musket ball in my-!" Hell managed to gasp. "You have to take it out first!"
This surprised me, but I instantly understood what I had to do. On Hell's belt was a leather pouch and in it was a small surgical kit. I removed all the tools and rolled up the pouch so she could place it between her teeth. I also noted with displeasure that the kit had previous bite marks on it already.
"Dammit, the Pope better get here soon!" I muttered under my breath and ripped off Hell's now useless shoulder plate. I needed to see the wound clearly.
Once I found the entry point I started cutting. Ironically it was Hell who taught me how to treat gunshot wounds, but normally it's the minion spies, not the spy master, that gets shot. The most delicate part of the task was removing the iron ball that had embedded itself all the way to her bone. If I wasn't able to get it out, then it was a very likely possibility that Hell's sword arm would be left impaired with a lifetime of pain even after the wound had "healed".
My biggest worry, though, was the large amount of blood covering Hell's shirt, pants, and now bed sheets. I'm no Grisia Sun. If Hell died from blood loss then there was no way for me to bring her back.
Finally, after what seemed like hours to me, I was able to remove the musket ball that had caused all this mess and began reapplying pressure to the wound.
"Ultimate Heal!" Someone behind me chanted. I turned to see a veiled figure standing behind me. I had been so focused that I didn't notice that the Pope had indeed arrived just in time. I released a long breath of relief. The ordeal was, for the most part, over.
"By the will of the God of Light your Holiness is as timely as ever." I exchanged rushed formalities with the Pope (mentioning the God of Light nine times), explained what I knew of the situation (while dedicating it to the will of the God of Light forty times), and promised to give a formal report in private later (because even the Pope can only handle so much "benevolence" from the God of Light).
The sound of light snoring told me that Hell had already began the first step of resting and recovering leaving the Pope and myself to tidy up the room a bit and collect all the blood stained items. Once this was done we left the patient alone to rest for the remainder of the evening.
Tomorrow, however, I would discover who had dared to shoot one of my holy knights and show them just how "merciful" the God of Light could be.