Work Text:
Stella could have sworn her eyes shined when he showed his face…or at least, what used to be one. Maybe it was determination, or excitement? She always got happy to face new opponents, to both having fun and measuring her strength. Stella found it weird; only her could find funny to battle and risk her life doing so. What the little fairy didn't know was that she didn't saw what she and her friends saw; she saw the face of a man. A handsome one, to be honest; with strong features, dark hair and red eyes.
He looked like a hero of a fairytale that somehow managed to get out of the book. So strong,awesome and clever-looking…was he really evil like the king said? Did he see what she was seeing?
Pushing aside those thoughts, she took a deep breath and grabbed her sword,ready to do anything to save that poor princess. And so the battle begun.
It wasn't easy; everyone got several injuries, specially the mage. But with everyone's effort and never-ending determination, they managed to defeat the Wight Knight. At first she felt proud of herself and her friends, but then so bad when she saw the boy laying down in the floor, probably much more injured than them. She sighed. Everyone,including himself, were surprised when she offered her hand to him.
-You're very strong.- She said with a kind smile on her face, the full moon shining on her face.
For a moment he thought he was being wrong all this time. That his princess was that beautiful dancing swordswoman that just defeated him and not that girl in Stornway; but by just looking closely at her eyes, he knew she wasn't her.
He took her hand nonetheless,smiling back with resignation.
She got angry when the king started to say all those things about him. He was an honorable man, why couldn't he see that? She tried to argue and her three friends agreed,but it wasn't enough to change the king's mind. She started to wonder why nobody really saw what she saw in him.
"Oh,someday I'll find and marry a handsome prince,you'll see" Their healer had jokingly said to her sometime. She heard some another girls say things about princes too, and she didn't really understand it. She had read about princes and kings in the Observatory, and she already met one; and sincerely, the idea of marrying a boy that would sit on his throne all day, eventually turn grumpy and couldn't take a punch was disgusting to her. She would prefer a strong, brave, and more spirited man; more like a knight! One of those knights legends talked about, that were heroes just like her. Someone that would not depend on her to protect himself like most humans did. She knew she was born to protect them, but sometimes, she couldn't help but want to feel protected too.
She also couldn't help but feel like a child, being excited when she heard that old lady singing the song the princess talked about and daydreamed about the tale; but again, how old she was? She never exactly knew it. She just knew that,compared to the other celestrians, she was pretty young. Then the dreamy knight appeared again and while the villagers got scared, specially because of his face, she smiled. She began to admire his determination and the way he did not give up his search, just like she was doing all kind of things to come back home. The thought of being similar to him made her smile proudly.
She found strange how nobody knew about Brigadoom, the Right Knight's kingdom, but all made sense when they finally arrived there: it was destroyed long ago. No person was to be seen, only monsters lived at those old ruins of what used to be a lively, beautiful town. She couldn't believe it. And she felt even worst when she saw the knight's horrified face. She tried to comfort him, somehow, but he yelled something and made his way inside the remains of the castle. Of course,that "something" was his princess's name.
When the man fell on the floor, paralyzed, injured and mumbling all of his regrets, she didn't think twice and ran to him. She hugged his body like it was going to soothe his pain, and swore to herself that she would make Morag pay for everything she did to the people of Brigadoom, and of course, to him. The witch's laugh made her blood boil.
Again, she wanted to comfort him. To hug him and tell him that he wasn't a failure, that he had to go on. But how could she? She didn't really know him, she didn't live what he did .She wasn't part of the Right Knight's tale. But she, the one who came to them, was.
When she watched them dance, she found herself imagining being in her place, about being able to give him the happiness he deserved and being happy at his side. That was when that awfully familiar green light appeared around him, and everything fully clicked. She tried to convince herself otherwise along the way, but her fears were coming true: the knight wasn't alive. He died unfairly, so many years ago, alongside his home and the woman he loved. And just like every ghost she had met, he was destined to fade away after getting what he wanted. She was sad, but she had to remind herself: this wasn't her tale. Even so,her eyes began to water when he looked at her one last time, that only getting worst when he thanked her. The light started to slowly replace part of his body, and sooner than she expected, it happened. The Right Knight's tale finally came to an end.
"What's wrong?" they asked, noticing her sadness. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah",she answered, of course. "Come on,let's go back".
And even if the world may not remember the Right Knight's story, it would always have a special spot on her heart.
The story that she couldn't be part of, even if she wanted to so badly.