Reclusion

~~~📜~~~

Leonoris walked through the castle halls with slow, almost dragging steps. The sunlight coming through the tall windows painted the old stone gold. In that solemn silence she could hear the echo of her own footsteps. Unease coiled tight in her chest, though she tried not to think about it.

When she turned toward the hall leading to the south wall, she ran into Nessus. The young man, still in his light guard armor, was brushing dust off his boots after crossing the training yard.

“Have you checked the guard shift at the bay?” Leonoris asked in a faint voice, stopping before him.

“Yes.” Nessus nodded, pushing a lock of blond hair back. “I just came from there. From the watchtowers they spotted ships circling the skies, a few kilometers off the coast. They’re not merchants. They fear the pirates will return within days.”

The princess nodded heavily. The news did not surprise her, yet hearing it from her brother’s mouth carried a different weight.

Nessus studied her carefully. “Speaking of that. Shouldn’t you check on the Hero?” he asked in a low tone.

She looked at him in silence, as if unwilling to admit it, but finally sighed.

“I know. I’m worried too…” she murmured. “Since that night…”

Both fell quiet for a moment, recalling the same thing: the blast of a gunshot in the middle of the night, the echo through the halls, the guards running in terror. And then, the sight of him before a shattered mirror, pistol still smoking in his hand. No enemies, only the broken reflection of himself and a fury that consumed him from within.

“It’s been four nights since then,” Leonoris continued, folding her arms. “And since that day, he hasn’t left the workshop in the back field. We barely know he eats and drinks what they leave at the door.”

Nessus lowered his gaze, lips pressed together. “Sometimes I hear the sound of metal inside. He must be working, yes. But… what if he’s no longer sane?”

Leonoris said nothing. She could not put that fear into words, nor any of what had happened since his arrival.

“If I were you, I’d go see him,” Nessus added. “Maybe you’re the one who can help him.”

“Why me?” she asked.

“Mmm, you’re the spiritual one here. And I have to help with the stables. Besides… it seems like with you he’s a different person. Haven’t you noticed?”

"Thank you." He had said it before going to bed, before shooting his mirror. Why had everything changed so suddenly?

“…Alright. I’ll talk to him.”

~~~🛠️~~~

The sun was starting to set when Leonoris finally decided to go. The air in the back yard smelled of hay and wet stone where the old workshop stood. Before it had been just a shed to store garden tools. Hoes, rakes, water barrels. The low-roofed place, walls stained with rust and time, now looked like a forgotten refuge barely holding up from being near the castle wall.

Upon arrival, Leonoris paused to listen. No sound, contrary to what Nessus had said. No hammering, no clanging, not even footsteps. As if it were the same as before: empty.

She knocked softly on the wooden door.

Nothing.

“Hero Rei! It’s Leonoris, are you alright?”

Nothing.

She knocked again, harder. The echo carried through the courtyard trees, but no voice replied.

Frowning, embarrassed to enter without invitation, the princess pushed the door open slowly. Inside everything was dark. The metallic smell of copper and tin made the dust feel heavier, almost too much for her lungs.

"Solaria, allow me to see." She whispered a short spell and a sphere of light came from her palm, floating above her like a small beacon.

The light showed chaos inside. Tables piled with sharp metal pieces. Copper shavings on the floor. Tools thrown everywhere. The workshop looked like pirates had ransacked it, though obviously none had reached the city yet.

“Rei… Rei…” she called again, stepping forward with caution.

The silence endured. Only her own restrained breathing filled the space, betraying her doubts about whether entering had been a good idea.

She advanced further, the light hovering over her brow. Ahead, there was another table, but this one held only a single object. A weapon… no…

A touch on her shoulder.

“Ah!” She screamed, stumbling back. She tripped on something, the orb of light shooting upward toward the ceiling, spinning wildly.

“Leonoris?” a tired, hoarse voice called.

A candle lit up at the back of the room, showing Rei with messy hair and eyes squinted from sleep. The weak light was enough to show the princess on the floor, hand pressed to her hood like her life depended on keeping her head covered.

"What are you doing?!" she yelled, furious from the scare. “Why was everything so dark?”

“Eh?” Rei scratched his head lazily, as if lacking conviction. “I was sleeping.”

“Sleeping?! Do you have any idea what time it is?”

He blinked, as if doing calculations. “…Four in the morning?”

“It’s seven in the evening! The sun is setting!”

Rei tilted his head, mildly puzzled.

“Oh. Nap time then.” He managed a faint, weary grin.

Leonoris looked him over. He wore the same work clothes from days before, stained with metal and sweat, wrinkled fabric with a sour smell. Light stubble shadowed his jaw and his hair fell messy over his forehead.

“So this is how you plan to be Solaria’s Hero?” she said, folding her arms.

He shrugged. “If it works… does it matter?”

“Does it matter?” she repeated, her voice rising. She stepped forward, indignant. “Look at you! Filthy, unkempt and—” Leonoris sniffed the air quickly, regretting it at once. “Is this really what you think a Hero of Solaria should be?”

Rei was still himself. That was why her disappointed gaze stung so deeply. He pictured his own state and understood everything. She had expected a Hero. He had failed, and now seemed deranged.

“Leo…”

He opened his mouth to respond, but at that instant the castle bells rang out violently, cutting through the tension.

Leonoris darted toward the door, with the Hero close behind. “What’s happening?”

She feared the worst—the urgency of the alarm suggested pirates had entered the city, razing everything in their path. But no. She saw no ships in the skies. Instead, in the distance, a dozen horses ran wild from the castle grounds into the streets of Kounaria, raising clouds of dust.

“What the—”

To her left, a lone horse galloped at full speed, bearing a rider toward them. The sunset revealed Nessus’s panicked face.

“Sister! Rei! We’ve got a problem!” He pulled the reins hard, the horse skidding to a halt. “I left the stable gate open while they drank at the trough—they’ve broken loose!”

Leonoris clenched her fists. “You did what?! How many?”

“Twelve, heading through the streets toward the forest! We need to stop them before they scatter! Come on!”

The princess nodded, tense and furious, trying clumsily to mount the horse. Rei lingered a moment, glancing at the shadows of his workshop.

“Come on, sister!”

“I can’t! It’s too high!” Leonoris struggled to climb, unable to fit her foot in the stirrup. Even Nessus’s hand wasn’t much help.

“Rei! Help her!”

Rei was no longer there. Leonoris’s glance back couldn’t capture the depth of her disappointment. Their Hero had vanished again. He wouldn’t help.

“Ah!” she cried in frustration, making another attempt. This time her foot touched the stirrup; she pushed off, but slipped almost instantly, about to fall—until a firm shove lifted her from behind.

Rei, who had caught up, pushed her just enough to seat her on the saddle.

“Rei…”

“Hey, Hero!” Nessus added.

They stared at him, surprised, but had no time for words. With startling agility, Rei leapt onto the stirrup, pushed off with his left leg, and in one smooth motion was seated at the horse’s rear.

“Go!” he shouted.

Nessus didn’t hesitate. He lashed the reins, and the three of them galloped, chasing the stampeding horses racing into Kounaria’s streets. The evening wind lashed their faces, the ground trembling beneath pounding hooves.

Rei, body still stiff from isolation, felt every jolt in his muscles, yet he never took his eyes off the path ahead. With his left hand, he touched his side. Still there. With his right, the same. Also there.

He pulled his work goggles down over his eyes, the wind sweeping his mind clear. Glancing back at the castle wall taken off guard by the runaway horses, he exhaled one last time. Now it was time. Rei, without the pistol he had yet to master, but with two new tools shaped like it.

It was time for Kashiwa Rei to play the role of Hero.

But this time, for real.