“Princess Nayrorei…?”
Her voice was quiet, exhausted, and probably tired of all the training they had to do today. She knew that voice, it was a way for Nayrorei to understand that it was enough training for today, yet, she continued trying to spark powers from her palms.
The night sky welcomed itself across the clouds and veiled the atmosphere in darkness. The violet grass swayed in the wind as small gusts blew through the little girl’s hair. All light from the Luminous faded into small trickles of stars dotted across the veil of dreams above.
As the Goddess of Creation was now gone, their lands had to be provided with a lesser light to replicate sunlight through daytime. Their Goddess is gone, leaving it up to the collected powers of her people to create a fake replicant of the sun; they were called the Luminous.
It drained people. It killed, yet, the people yearned for their glorious sun.
The Goddess’ people consisted of many different races; Eldians, Forerunners, Ecanthri, Kitsunes, Merevians… the list went on. Many had lived in the days where there was a real sun that loomed above them, and she wondered, was it beautiful? Was the sun’s rays warming? Were they happy? Living in peace under the protectful watch of all Zodiac Gods?
She’s heard them all from people that wandered in and out of the castle; how beautiful the worlds were before The Shadowing awakened from The Maiden’s corpse. Lunistria’s age matched up to those events, meaning she was once one of those people who stood beside actual Gods. But her? She was young, living in in the temporary peace the fallen provided, while Lunistria had lived through so many horrors...
She must have witnessed so much terror, so much anguish, so much sadness and loss…
Yet, when she turned around to look at her Knight, she welcomed her with the softest smile that rivaled the weight of a feather’s silk. She often wondered why Lunistria was so kind to her, but she guessed it was just in her personality, considering how she acted towards others as well.
If you were rude to her, appeared hostile or disrespected her, she would mimic that behavior. However, if you were nice to her, she would mirror the treatment and kindness.
Was it because she was mute? Her nature had never been vile, she had never thought of anything malicious, even to her father and brother. Lunistria was a truly kind person towards her, she was tremendously supportive and never forced Nayrorei to anything she didn’t like. She could see that in the year she had spent with her thus far.
… It had already been a year?
That thought hadn’t crossed her mind ever since Lunistria had the fight with her father. She realised the impending doom that loomed above Goddess Alyntherra’s Domain once more. She knew the burden of her duty.
She was scared.
How did it lead to this? Why did it lead to this? Why couldn’t the worlds just remain as they were? What happened for it to have led to this point? Who was The Shadowing, and why did it seek so much power and destruction? She had so many questions, none of which could be answered easily.
She just wanted everything to be okay.
But that won’t happen when she cannot even muster a spark of fire from her fingertips. When she cannot even heal like a Seer should be able to do. She was good with one of her powers, and it’s far out of her reach. She loses control often, resulting in the injuries of guards, and sometimes even going as far to hurt Lunistria as well.
Yet, Lunistria’s smile could rival the fake sun with her brightness.
She was perfect, everything that the princess would ask for in a Knight, yet her heart ached when she gazed upon her. Her powers are useless, and if she struggled, how would her child fare?
It was quite odd for a girl her age to concern herself with a child, but she understood the grave importance of the role of a Seer in their upcoming battle, though it was undermining in her case. They need a Seer that can use their power, and she cannot.
She tried to focus again, channeling her entire being to her fingertips for something to work, something to spark. But even after trying so hard to do bare minimal, once again, nothing happened; only sparking a faint glow of light from her hands. She was making no progress, and it soon dawned on her that the truth was that she was useless.
Lunistria could have had a powerful Seer to fight alongside her, but she’s here stuck with her of all people.
Someone so kind, so powerful, resulted to adopt a useless rag of a girl nearly of age under her wing to protect. She’s a burden to her, she will die if she doesn't improve. It didn’t matter that she would simply rise up again because if Nayrorei remained alive and well, Lunistria would also remain somewhat immortal on the battlefield. She would think that it would be enough for her, but the Seer carried a greater purpose for that.
According to Lunistria, The Shadowing is ravenous, rapid and impacts life threatening blows in seconds. If one wasn’t careful enough, a single second could result in them being swallowed up whole into the acidic stomach of The Shadowing. Anything that touched its miasma would immediately melt. Those who simply thought of a new tactic, like keeping their distance away from the beast, were instantly scooped from the ground and engulfed into the miasmic shadows that curled underneath The Shadowing’s terrain. Nothing could rival it, the size of the beast should confirm it to be slow, but its speed was something to be feared.
House Lunarian worshipped the Cat Zodiac, the Goddess that controlled Lightning and Light. She was fast beyond belief, able to swiftly overcome anything. However, Lunistria confirmed that for the price of her tremendous speed, she didn’t hit that hard, albeit supremely fast at it.
If The Shadowing was able to consume the literal embodiment of Lightning and Light, what could the people protected by the Zodiacs do in order to protect themselves once they’re gone?
The Seers. The Seers would work as a way to forcefully immobilise momentarily for people to strike it.
‘If the Seer is powerful enough, they can even control other Beings as a hivemind.’ For her to be useful on the battlefield, she would need to control The Shadowing temporarily to stop these ravenous shifts.
But here she was, not even able to use the most basics of her powers as a Seer. If she was forced to become a mother, the last thing she would want is to force this burden onto her child as well. She was living in that scenario, she knew exactly what hell she was forced to do and she wouldn’t want to pass it onto anyone.
To be a Seer is a curse. She had to do something, but what?
Legs enter her line of vision, soon accompanied by hands and arms. Lunistria hugs her from behind and gently eases her onto her lap, where she softly resided her head next to Nayrorei’s. Nayrorei leaned against her back and tried to relax.
Her birthday is soon…
Lunistria’s legs surrounded her, levering Nayrorei’s body from completely squishing her tail from her weight. Her arms wrapped around the smaller girl comfortingly, small nuzzles against where Nayrorei’s head touched Lunistria’s.
“Come on, princess, let’s head back inside. We’ve done enough for today, I’m very proud of you—”
“I’m bad!”
Lunistria’s arms became wet as Nayrorei’s tears dripped down her face, but she didn’t care about that. In the year she spent with Nayrorei, she was used to the little girl’s emotions all ‘round.
But she never heard her speak, not even in her own language.
Emotions were rupturing the little Seer’s heart, her tears were uncontrollable, and so was her voice. She was even shocked that she talked, it just happened without her knowing, without her thinking a second of it.
“You’re not bad, princess.” Lunistria’s voice was like a sweet lullaby, she could hear how Lunistria previously sounded like, as her voice cracked slightly at the end of her sentence. Though Lunistria’s voice was soft and comforting, Nayrorei’s emotions still clawed at her throat.
“I’m useless!” She hiccuped, “you’re going to die because of me!” everything she was feeling became too much for her to handle, it clawed at her, strangled her. It was hard to breathe, it was hard to bear. Lunistria’s face nuzzled down to Nayrorei’s small shoulder, her breaths pushed the fabrics against her skin which tickled her a bit.
“I’m not going to die, princess, I’ll stay by your side and protect you—”
“WHY?!” Nayrorei roared, “Why me?!” She wasn’t angry with her, but now that her voice finally decided to work, she decided it was about time she asked the real questions with Lunistria. Questions her family wouldn’t ask because it was obvious, to them, that Lunistria was simply here to obey the commands of the king and queen.
Lunistria took a moment to respond, sighing with hesitation, she picked her tiny Seer up from her lap and turned Nayrorei to face her.
“Close your eyes for me, princess.” She said calmly. And even with all the emotions roaring a typhoon inside of Nayrorei’s chest, she manages to momentarily close her eyes for Lunistria.
“... Imagine a prince of the Eternals. Pure blue hair, similar to The Maiden’s hair.” She tried to imagine what Lunistria was painting for her, but unknowing of how the Maiden’s hair looked, she imagined the color of the scarf Lunistria wore.
“Now, this prince was said to be the heir to the throne of the Central Kingdom, the most populated city among the Eternal people.” She imagined a city she often drew on paper, a silly little doodle she would imagine the world would be without The Shadowing looming above.
“His people were Eternals, while his body looked like one, he was truly a Human; a defected Eternal mutated to mortality.” Her emotions calmed and were replaced with worry as she knew what Lunistria was implying. She wished to open her eyes, but as soon as one of her eyelids cracked open, Lunistria would gently run her thumb across to close it again.
“They are equal to the other races nowadays, but back then, they were like defects. Not even worth batting an eye to.” She paused, “but this prince was one of them and hid that away from the public.”
Nayrorei’s heart dropped, feeling bad for the prince to hide such a thing.
“Eternals wouldn’t get sick, but this prince would oftenly get sick, burdening his family to take care of him unless they’d see to his funeral.” Lunistria continued, her voice became deeper and deeper as her tale led on. “This prince was an outsider, and though he had a supportive family, he felt like a burden to them and oftenly ran away from them.”
A sniff could be heard from Lunistria, Nayrorei tried to reach out to her to try and wipe away the tear but Lunistria would tuck her hands back to the little girl’s body.
“Eventually, this prince made a lot of friends who were also Eternal. He was the odd one out of all of his friends, he knew they would outlive him, he would leave them in sadness…”
Nayrorei felt Lunistria’s head bump against hers, forehead to forehead.
“Whereas these Eternal friends of his could use powers to aid them in the Trials of the Maiden, he had nothing, and hid away his Human side even away from them.” She sighed, “his eyes were dying, his organs were dying, his Eternal gene served as the only reason why he was older than nine hundred years old.” A tear dripped onto Nayrorei’s hair, she tried again to reach out to the face that was close to hers and laid her small hands upon Lunistria’s cheeks.
Nayrorei’s eyes remained closed as Lunistria wanted, but she no longer imagined her tale, she only listened. “He loved people, he loved his friends, he loved being able to protect people.” She chuckled halfheartedly, though Nayrorei could tell it was a pitying chuckle. “So when something came up and his friends were threatened, the prince sacrificed himself to save his dear friends.”
No…
“He was brought back by his best friend who became the God of Alchemy and Knowledge, but as an Eldian who only carried some memories of his past life.”
It can’t be…
Lunistria strayed from Nayrorei’s reach, “you can open your eyes now.”
But she was afraid. That tale was enough to calm her down from her overwhelming emotions, but it replaced it with sadness. Tears reawakened from the edges of her closed eyes, she didn’t want to open them and see this prince who had suffered so much.
“Nayrorei, please.”
But that simple call made her finally open her eyes.
She was greeted by a familiar facial structure, the same ocean blue eyes she found comfort looking into at her times of sadness. The long purple hair that Lunistria once wore was gone, replaced by a pale blue, just like the tale detailed. Her voice was deep, like a boy’s voice, yet it still sounded just as soft as before. She could find sanctuary within him, she still felt safe.
“Even now, they hunt down anyone with blue hair. Even Eldians are looked down upon, thankfully, Eldians are able to have a second appearance as long as I kept awake.” She wondered why Lunistria never slept, she guessed this was the reason why. Who knew what her family, and literally anyone else, would think if they saw someone walk around with pale blue hair. She couldn't imagine it, she had been sheltered for so long, nearly anything is believeable if someone claimed it to be.
She trusted her Knight... more than anything. They would never lie to her, surely.
“Me and you, aren’t so different. We see ourselves as weak and useless, when we’re not. We just need time… Time that can’t be given to us.” Lunistria leaned down to bump foreheads with Nayrorei’s again, both closed their eyes.
“I’ll do what I can to protect you, princess, I promise. I don't want to see you resort to what I did... you deserve more.” Nayrorei felt lucky that both of them had resorted back to having their eyes closed, because somehow with the difference in Lunistria’s appearance, she found herself blushing.
“T-Thank you…” She muttered, “s-so… what’s your real name, prince?”
“It was Zhafiran Hæir, princess.” Zhafiran pulled away from Nayrorei to look at her, she decided to keep her eyes closed and look away, already feeling the pressure of the gaze on her.
“And you’re a she…?” She was too embarrassed to say more as Lunistria chuckled in that deep voice she seemed to be mesmerised with now. “I’m a he, but no one really expects a female Knight, so that’s why I disguised myself as ‘Lunistria’.” Nayrorei simply nodded with her face completely flushed, out of all people and luck, she managed to get THE prince of Eternals as her reincarnated Eldian Knight.
“Did I make you feel better?” Zhafiran asked with a low chuckle again. Nayrorei knew he was enjoying this, but she managed to keep her composure and simply nodded again. But as she creaked an eye open, she saw the purple hair back again and frowned a bit.
“Princess, I can be myself with you alone, but the inside of the castle isn’t exactly lonely. It’s getting cold out here, too.” Nayrorei pouted, finally accepting to be brought back inside thte castle with her Knight.