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As a noble of high standing, Lady Sumire Yoshizawa did not swear. With her father on King Shido's high council, both her and her twin sister Kasumi had been fast tracked under the kingdom's best magic tutelage the moment they'd shown the slightest spark of ability. They'd both flourished; Kasumi flew through the ranks of the high mages with her skill in both divination and transmutation. Sumire's magic spluttered and died casting anything but battle magic, but she was snapped up straight into the kingdom's exclusive group of royal knights. It had been an honourable position, one that had always required the both of them to hold themselves with grace, and decorum.
But today? Today was pushing it.
Today marked the 500th day since Sumire had thrown off the red mantle worn by all royal knights of Chiyoda, and walked out of the capital's keep to embark on a quest to find someone with a solid enough grasp on complex transmutation magic to save her sister.
Of the three casters she knew who were powerful enough to counteract the spell, one was now dead, one had fled their home castle in the cover of night over a decade ago, and the other was Kasumi herself. Kasumi, who had been forced into the form of a tiny red frog, was presently more interested in catching bugs and proudly croaking into the night than casting any counterspells.
From a lack of any better options, she had been travelling all over the land chasing any rumours she could gather about the mysteriously vanished high mage. Currently, she was following advice of a baker from a quiet border town, who had told her to seek a honey haired witch that had settled in a bog to the north. The kindly woman had failed to specify which bog however; so Sumire had spent the two and a half months straight trudging through every single one. After that had gotten her absolutely nowhere, she'd spent another three backtracking and scouring every single marsh, swamp, and vaguely damp, muddy landscape that she could find.
All she had to show for this half a year of effort was more gunk encrusted into her armour than was possible to remove with even the most stubborn of cleaning magics, and a thorough knowledge of the region's wide array of edible roots.
It was safe to say she was not feeling particularly optimistic about her quest, let alone her day. That had been before she'd slipped over, flat onto her back and into half a handspan of mud. She lay still for a moment and sighed, staring up into the sky and barely registering the muck creeping into her cloak and clumping in her tightly braided hair.
Urghh. She was so sick of propriety. She'd been on the road with just herself for company for far too long, and was nowhere closer to finding the one who could lift the curse on her twin than when she'd taken her first step outside the castle grounds. She deserved to just let her carefully guarded walls drop for once. The dank hole she was currently occupying was such a far cry from the banquet halls of home, who would even see her here anyway?
Her gloves tightened as her hands formed into fists. She knew she shouldn't. Still, she breathed in, and allowed months of frustration to surface. Her gauntlet started to glow a hot white, as she could feel her mana merging with her tempest of thoughts, channelling directly into her palm.
She slammed it directly into the ground, and felt the world beneath her burn. The treetops above lit up for a brief moment, as if a star burst into existence around her, only to dim within seconds.
Startled birds squawked in alarm and fled to the sky. A panicked toad leapt from where it had gotten comfortable on her chest plate and landed back onto the singed ground that was quickly refilling with foetid water. The anger and frustration had left her, but now she just felt empty. Urgh. Although her tantrum would merely have badly startled anything living in the bog given that they weren't outright demonic, her having a bad day still didn't mean she had to take it out on others.
She watched the frog flee. "Sorry little buddy."
She groaned and threw her arm over her face. God, she was being pathetic.
Her moment of self pity was cut short as a deep chuckle sounded from above her. "You knocked?"
Flinging her sword arm off her face, she squinted up to see a smiling man about her age leaning over her. He was cute, despite seemingly carrying half of the undergrowth of the surrounding plant life in the dark curls of his hair. In contrast, his dark cloak was miraculously clear of any grime, as was the coat of the biggest cat she'd ever seen perching across his shoulders.
Even when surrounded by water, she hadn't heard him approach.
Brilliant. Because today was truly the gift that kept on giving, now she was going to have to fight off some monster that thought it could lure her into its lair with nothing but an illusion of a charming grin. Fantastic.
She forced a smile back as she responded, so it wouldn't notice her hand creeping towards her sword. At least today wouldn't be a total write-off if she could save some other, future travellers from a gruesome fate.
"Oh! I'm sorry I disturbed you!" Years of etiquette training were easy to fall back on, as she started readying some of her spells. She'd be able to force politeness even if she was both drugged and asleep. "I promise I wasn't aiming at you or anything!"
He chuckled again. Nrghh, whatever monster this was had really perfected the sound of that. She felt her stomach flip, and she told herself that it was simply out of fear.
"I'd certainly hope not. Normally I try to have actually done something wrong before getting someone that mad at me."
The following wink was like a lance straight to the heart. Urgh, if she hadn't been sure she was speaking to some sort of man eating beast, she was now. Sumi had never met a real human that was anywhere near as immediately charming as this one.
Blissfully unaware of her suspicion, he continued, and reached out a hand towards her. "Now, I know I'm not why you're mad, but I'd love to try and help you out anyway."
Definitely not at all swayed by his charm, Sumi pulled herself upright with a loud squelch. Ignoring the clear trap laid with his offered hand, she instead decided to spring his other one. She was so, so tired. Maybe a good fight with a malicious, magical entity was the enrichment she needed to bring her motivation back.
"I don't suppose then, that you happen to know a honey haired witch with red eyes and a penchant for transmutation magic?"
His silhouette seemed to distort for a quick moment before righting itself, but his smile didn't waver. Did that cat always look mad?? She didn't think she was imagining the sudden hostility in its eyes.
"Hm. Depends on why you're asking."
"I'm here to save my sister." Storytelling had never been her strongest skill, so she decided to go with honesty. "We were in a battle. I wasn't strong enough. I was the one on the front line, I was the one who was holding the shields but I slipped, and Kasumi-"
She took a deep breath, ignoring how her voice wavered. "She noticed. She jumped in the way of a spell aimed at me. She sacrificed herself and made an opening, and saved the whole bloody kingdom and ended a year long war and I can't even be happy about it because SHE'S NOT HERE TO SEE IT!"
She startled as she punched the ground beside her and instead of a splash, she heard the loud crack of dried earth. Ah. She'd lost control of her magic somewhere during that rant and baked the area around her again. Whoops.
She sniffled and looked back up at the definitely-not-a-man who somehow didn't have the good sense to move out of her disaster radius, and was instead hitting her with the full force of a cat-like grin.
"Saved the whole bloody kingdom huh?"
Against her will, a laugh tumbled out of her throat. "Yeah. The whole bloody kingdom. The king worked out a spell to rob people of their minds and control them like mere pawns. It started with known traitors to the crown." She shrugged. "He was working up to casting it over everyone, everywhere. Someone needed to stop him. Kasumi figured it may as well be us."
"Well then, it would be awfully rude of me to delay a hero on such a noble quest, now wouldn't it?" He raised an arm and pointed directly behind her. "The mage you're looking for, you just missed him actually. If you follow me I can take you to his place. I'm sure he'd be delighted to help!"
Urgh, there it was. She'd deliberately been vague about the details of who she was searching for, and had neglected to mention to him that the honey haired witch she was searching for, was in fact a woman. Time to follow the beast back to its lair. Maybe instead of drawing her sword she should just skip the whole thing and throw a few hundred bolts of cleansing light in its general direction, assuming she didn't accidentally burn through the rest of her mana by accident along the way.
"Oh! Thank you!" She continued to play the hapless maiden as she pulled herself up. "Please lead the way!"
"As you wish, my lady." He bowed dramatically, holding his cloak like a showman dipping his cape. He twirled around her, and couldn't have walked more than a dozen paces before his deep voice triumphantly declared, "Aaaand we're here!"
Ok, that was unexpected. Instead of the forest she definitely remembered being behind them, or even some form of dank cave befitting of such a creature, he was posed directly in front of the door to a warm looking hut. It stood proudly above the mud on a small knoll, and instead of being decorated by the decaying skeletons or rusty belongings of previous victims, moss clung to a low fence, surrounding some lovingly tended gardens. The smoke chugging out of its chimney sang promises of a warm fire.
While she was still gathering herself, he burst through the door with an enthusiastic "Honey!! I'm home!~~"
This was immediately followed by the distinct sound of glass breaking, and a plume of purple smoke carrying him back outside, cackling, only to land directly on his rear.
"FOR FUCK'S SAKE AKIRA!" A distinctly masculine voice roared. Continuing today's string of unexpected events, the head of an absolutely irate honey haired man popped out from the doorframe. She could hear the pitiful groan of its one remaining hinge as he slapped it in his fury. "How many times do I have to jam it into your pathetic excuse for a skull that you do not burst into my FUCKING HOUSE?!"
"But Goro," an apparently unrepentant Akira returned, gesturing in her direction. "How else could I possibly tell you that we have a guest?"
Oh wow. The last time someone had levelled a glare like that at her, Sumire had been forced to watch them turn her sister into an amphibian. That boded well for any diplomacy.
The brim of his deep purple and black, wide-brimmed hat flopped to the side as he fully emerged to get a better look at her. His eyes narrowed, and his nose scrunched as he took her in. She slapped down the immediate thought that categorised the action as cute. He was clearly unimpressed, not that she blamed him given that she was currently indistinguishable from a drowned rat.
"Enlighten me as to why you think I should give a shit."
Sumire tried not to wince, or let his aggressive attitude put her off from requesting his assistance. She steadied herself, made sure to meet his eyes, and let out the plea she'd formulated over countless hours spent alone on the road.
"My name is Sumire Yoshizawa, Knight of Chiyoda. I've come to request your assistance. You see, my sister-"
"Ah. My mistake. I misspoke." His face warped into a mockery of politeness as he ruthlessly cut her off, before dropping back into a flat stare. "Do not enlighten me. I could not care less. Now get the fuck away from my house."
Sumire saw red. She had not spent months in muddy holes looking for this man only to be hit with this.
"I am looking for a honey haired witch, who is said to be nice! Someone who has used their magic to help crops grow when farmers needed aid, who set up wards to keep dangerous creatures away from the beaches! Every story I hear tells of a person who assists any who come to request their aid, as long as their cause is noble and their heart is pure! Why are you doing this now?!"
His laugh was as jagged as broken glass, his voice pure venom.
"I see. You'd be looking for my mother then. She's roughly 40 paces that way and buried about three straight down. Not much of a talker anymore, I'm afraid."
Sumire looked in the direction the cute, angry man had nodded towards. Unlike the rest of the bog that looked straight out of a horror-painting depicting lost soldiers wandering a marshland til death claimed them, a well hidden ring of flowers sat defiantly, untouched by the mud. The small, white petals formed bells and stood tall, defiant against the chill breeze. Even from this far away she could feel the sanctity of the place.
Turning back towards him, she was able to catch the flickering of his eyes as his gaze re-sharpened, as if when she wasn't looking he was allowed himself to feel something other than irritation and rage.
"I'm..." Her insides turned to ice, as she was hit by her cold reality. Not only was the witch she was after dead and gone, but the man before her had also just lost the most important person in his life. He was horribly isolated and alone, except for whatever monster sat on his butt petting a cat five feet away. But unlike her, he had no sliver of hope to cling to for their return. She forced out the rest of her condolences. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
The silence that followed gave her enough time to pause and reflect on her next move. Had he jumped in, accepted her condolences and then coldly asked her to leave again, she might have.
But why would, (Akira was it?), have brought her here if he wasn't someone fitting her original description?
"But, why did your partner-" the witch again scrunched his nose in disgust at her choice of wording, but she continued, "Why did he bring me to you? He said you were incredibly capable and fit my description?"
The honey haired witch rolled his eyes, before stepping back inside his hut. He took one last look at her. "Because he's a fool. He knows my mother would have helped you. Unfortunately for you, you're stuck with me and I am not dealing with this bullshit."
He unceremoniously slammed the door on the three of them.
It was silent for a moment, before the door was once again whipped open.
"Except for you Morgana, I apologise for my earlier outburst. You've done nothing wrong tonight, except for associating with these buffoons. If you'd like, you can rectify that and join me by the fire."
The cat looked up from where it had been grooming itself since it had been dislodged in Akira's tumble and gave a single, annoyed chirp in reply. It wove past them all, brushing itself against the witch's legs as it stepped inside.
With that, he slammed the door shut directly in their faces for the second time. It teetered for a short moment, before the sole, tormented hinge finally failed, and the door fell to the ground with a soft thud.
Sumire had spent much of her life around bawdy, and often crass men of war. Still, she had no words for the resulting verbal tirade other than 'inspired'. She cringed and backed away, turning again to Akira. For the first time since she'd seen him, the grin was gone from his face. If anything, he looked outright pensive.
"I definitely remember you describing him as 'delighted to help'."
As his attention returned to her, a smile much smaller than his usual bloomed back onto his face. From this closer angle, she could see the mud and decaying leaves scattered through his hair had doubled, presumably during his earlier fall. Combined with the evening light dancing across his skin, he somehow appeared soft, and warm.
"He's not normally that bad, I think he's just having a bad day. Should we call it for the day and try again tomorrow?"
For the first time today, she believed that maybe he wasn't trying to trick her. For the first time in a long while, she finally believed that she could save her sister. There was no way she was giving up and turning back now. She'd fought so hard, for so long to help achieve Kasumi's shared dream of standing at each other's sides, overlooking a country that was finally at peace. One disgruntled young man was absolutely nothing compared to everything she'd faced on the journey that had landed her in this moment. Her face split into a genuine, blinding grin.
"Sounds like a plan!"
