Chapter Text
In a fissure between two realities — a speck of dust suspended in the seams — the kingdom of Libestal glowed with happiness. Not a single Libestian understood fear for their protection was eternally upheld by their bright-eyed knights. The royal army answered to the king without question. They trained — never to fight but rather to defend and serve.
Among the many, one stood above the rest. Hardly a day went by without the people spotting her hair, dyed bright in virtue and valor, flowing behind her like a cape. Even the sun who has seen so many seemed to worship in her radiant glory, lighting up the path she walked. Children and adults alike would call to each other that the red knight passed by.
At the people's aid, she would suddenly appear in a crimson flash. The knight's strength rivaled five farmers as she carried multiple crates across the districts. One can find her guiding the lost or donating supplies to the less fortunate. She patrols diligently, starting at the earliest cracks of sunlight until the moon's silver arc submerges below.
The red knight kept busy. The red knight kept the peace.
To Libestal — solitary on the pointed tip of a canine's fang — she was their gilded champion.
One summer's night, another which the red knight spent alone and alert, ruffled wings caught her eye. A raven appeared before her. Her black feathers shimmered even in the depths of darkness. Blue moonlight lined the contours of her silhouette.
The raven was majestic, but the red knight immediately became wary of such other-wordly beauty. The only reason evil presents as beautiful is to lull, to lure — to seduce.
"Out with you, shoo. Be gone." With the back of her hand, she swatted the air. "You are a nuisance."
"Out with me? How rude! I have lived here all my life!" The raven cawed. It echoed, hardening the knight's glare. "What have I done to be shooed? What makes me a nuisance?"
She sighed. "You take the food that is grown for Libestians. You taint perfect skies with your color. You must go."
"The crops that grow are for all citizens, correct? Are my lodgings here not enough to become a citizen? And the breeze is gentle and soft, yet I can not fly? Is it so wrong to do as I please?"
The red knight quickly grew tired of the raven's song of defiance and lies. Surely if pests had really settled within the kingdom, then the twins in her regimen would have chased them to the far ends of the land already.
"Hush your yap. Doing as you please puts others at risk. Your presence alone in the kingdom will unnerve the good folks here. If there is even one of you, fear festers and grows. What if there are more? Where are they coming from? Such questions leave the people vulnerable to perpetual anxiety. It is my duty to shield them from it."
A loud cackle shook the air. "Excuse me? Unnerving? At risk? How are you so certain? To throw accusations at another so frivolously! You are an earnest one, but so quick to judge."
The red knight grabbed the hilt of her blade— her Thorn. "Such is what being a knight demands from me. For the sake of the people, I must be swift. For the sake of the king, I must be sharp. For the sake of peace in the kingdom, I must strike."
"Your list of 'musts' is long… But is there nothing for your own sake?" The raven tilted her head.
She brandished her heavy sword. The wind pushes her crimson hair back. "Mine is that of Libestal itself. I am the sword of its will, nothing more. That is a knight's honor. I will not hesitate for what is right."
Unfazed by the red knight's declaration, the raven prettily flapped her wings. "For how much you pride yourself on such a title, your voice rings hollow and dull. I ask for your feelings, my dear."
"Even if I were so cooperative, you wicked bird," The red knight paused. Her lips thinned. She channeled strength into her arm. "There is nothing. What you seek does not exist."
The raven cackled. "Nothing? Is that so? I have my doubts, watching you for so long. I have a keen eye for all that shines, and you? There is a glimmer in the cracks that had caught my eye. It is very bright — brighter than anything in this kingdom you call Libestal. Unrefined as it is, I do love its hues. Would you show me it?"
The red knight growled. She hastily swung at the raven's neck. The raven took flight and rose above the buildings. Narrowed eyes looked down on the red knight with the moon at her back.
"I should have known it would not be easy. Alas, I can not keep you company any longer. Until we meet again, why not try peering into that iron chamber holding captive that heart of yours?"
Desperately she ran. The red knight shouted, "Halt! I will not be letting you go free!"
"I do love the chase. The chaser all the more!" The raven soared through the streets, laughing all the way.
The red knight went after her, never letting the raven out of her sight. Even under the starlit sky, she only saw the raven.
"Do not treat this as a game! I will not give up until you are caught! Even to the ends of the world!"
"I look forward to you upholding that promise!"
The raven shook her shimmering tail feathers, appearing like a comet. She took even higher, too far for the red knight to pursue any further. For now, only for now, the red knight vowed.
"'Till the next, my sweetest of scarlets."
A single black feather fell to the ground.
Exhausted and labored, the red knight finally gave rest to her pursuit. But her rage and determination had not wavered, not in the slightest. Rather, the red knight felt her stomach boil something new, something beyond frustration.
She took the feather and twirled it between her fingers. If the people were to find this, then doubt would surely spread like wildfire to a forest, and the other knights would burn up in the process.
The red knight carried it. Alone she went once more.
When the dawn broke, there was not a single soul without bags under their eyes. They mumbled about hearing caws through their windows.
The red knight assured each and every one that she would personally investigate the matter.
Smiles quickly returned to their faces. "I know we will be safe with you, red knight!"
The report to the king was swift and left little out. He need not be concerned with trivial matters relating to the raven's taking to her.
He nodded and smiled as well. "I expect nothing less of our red knight!"
And thus, the red knight went to her quarters. The golden nameplate on the door read "Elizabeth Rose Bloodflame". It was a name she no longer knew how it sounded.
She was the red knight.
Only in her room was she truly alone. There was only a bed, a closet, and a work desk. The red knight needed nothing else. She had nothing else. Nothing at all.
Yet the raven's taunting words haunted her.
The red knight leaned against her door. She laid her palm over her chest. To great shock and horror, there was a pulse felt through her armor. It was faint, brief, but something was indeed within.
Her mouth fell open, canines ready to tear into the raven's throat if it meant she would nevermore hear such pretty nonsense.
And so Sirius scorched red.