Exposed by the Light

-Gray-

Fulgora was off somewhere, while the princess was pulling arrows out of my body, perhaps not as gently as she should. “You idiot!” She chided me at the same time. “We were right there! You should have awoken us!”

“I tried, but-”

“But what? You wanted to ‘have fun?’ You wanted to single-handedly take down the enemy champion? We both know you could have broken through whatever ploys would keep my room sealed.”

“I-”

“And then there’s this-” She ripped another arrow out of me. “You fight way too… too… Argh!” She took a step back to throw her arms in the air. “Goddess preserve me.”

“I can heal from-”

“It doesn’t matter that you can heal from these wounds yourself! What matters is that you value your own life so little you’d risk it like this! Every time too! You allow enemies to attack you so you can deal a direct hit!”

“It’s effective-”

“No! It’s not about how effective it is. It’s about how you risk yourself for no reason! You told me that you were bed-ridden in your previous life, and that now you want to enjoy this one! But how can you convince me you are really enjoying it, if you don’t prioritize your own safety!”

“I crippled the bad guy though!” I finally interjected without being interrupted.

“And maybe, if you woke us up, we’d have fully killed him!” The princess said, hands on her hips, bending down to look me in the face.

“Sorry…” I said, my head lowered.

“You expect me to believe that? If you want me to believe that you’re actually aware of what you did, I expect to see a change in your behavior, got it?”

“Yes ma’am…”

She groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “For all of us, we only get one life. I don’t know how many you get, but I don’t want it to be thrown away.”

“If you don’t want it thrown away, then why do you keep him around?” Fulgora asked, slinking into the room with a smirk.

“Because he possesses unique powers that can save lives without being restrained by the powers of our enemies.” She crossed her arms as she stared at the wolf-girl.

“And yet, he has no formal training, no armor. He’s not even an official knight.” Fulgora pretended to look at her fingernails. “How can you say you care about him when you’re risking his life just by having him travel with us?”

“That was my choice, Fulgora.” I snapped, causing both girls to look at me in surprise. “Yeah, I could just live my second life out in some shack somewhere, without risking my life. But to me, that’s not living. I lived an entire life limited by my body, unable to live how I wanted. So I’m going to enjoy this life to its absolute fullest. Even if I die tomorrow, I intend to die with a smile on my face. And I refuse to let that ideal be mocked or besmirched.”

“I’m sorry for not striving to awaken you both, but I wanted to fight that man, I wanted to prove I’m not just some tagalong, but someone who can make a difference in this war.”

For once, my face was serious. No smirk, no smile, just a determined stare.

“That’s my boy!” Fulgora slapped my back, causing me to barely hold back another coughing fit. “I don’t care about your station. All I care about is that willingness to throw a punch, screw the consequences!”

“He’s not your boy, Fulgora.” The princess rolled her eyes. “He’s a knight-in-training for my kingdom.”

“Uh huh. And he’s such a knight-in-training that he has his own armor, or weapons, or training? You chastise him for acting on his own, but he doesn’t even get paid. What’s the deal with that?”

“That’s-” The princess was actually caught off guard, trying to find an answer.

“Who can blame him for wanting to prove himself? He has no proof of being your knight. So taking down one of the enemies would be the best way to secure his own future.” Fulgora grinned, shaking her head. “For what it's worth, I’m proud of him. To take the enemy’s arm, and come out of it with only ruined clothes? Maybe there’s a fighter in him yet.”

Yeah, once again, my clothes were ruined. All except for the scarf, which was only a little singed.

The princess let out a sigh. “I suppose I was being unfair, Gray-”

“No, no it’s fine. You made a good point and all-” With a brief glare from her, I stopped interrupting.

“I apologize for my demeanor in your recent victory. To survive a battle against a champion, and come out on top is an achievement. Once we return to my castle, I shall ensure you are properly compensated.” Her arms were crossed behind her back. “And a long career awaits ahead of you, Gray. I guarantee it.”

“Uh-huh.” Fulgora said blankly. “Well, while you talk about things you will do, I’m going to go with Gray to buy him some clothes. Since, y’know, we’re in my kingdom, and I can actually afford to pay my friends in a timely manner.”

With that, she began dragging me out by the scarf. “Okay… I guess we’re leaving…”

There was more I wanted to talk to the princess about, but I wasn’t foolish enough to try and fight against Fulgora.

But I did want to point out that- “You know, it’s still nighttime.”

Fulgora froze in place for a moment. “I-I know that! But I couldn’t stand you getting scolded like a child by her! Least she could do is show you some thanks.”

“I didn’t do it for anything like that.”

“Yeah, I know. You did it for fun, and only for fun. If you were capable of it, you’d have done whatever you could to stop us from getting involved. I don’t really care.”

“You don’t?” I scoffed.

“Okay, maybe I care a little. I’ve got some moves I’ve been dying to use on some poor sap. But I’m not going to be mad because you did exactly what I would have done.”

“He had this weird powder he threw, I think he intended to use it on you. Probably to cancel your powers.”

“Really? That’d be something to see.” Fulgora’s mind drifted elsewhere for a minute. “Hey! You’re not getting out of this that easily!”

“What do you mean? I’m just wasting time.” I said with a smile. We were standing in the foyer, the bodies already cleaned up, and servants were working on the blood. “Shops aren’t open yet.”

Fulgora scoffed, putting one hand on her hip. “If I’m really supposed to be the ‘crown princess’ of this kingdom, then it should be okay to throw my weight around from time to time.”

Yeah, but I didn’t feel right forcing some shopowner to wake up at like 1 am. “Hey, where were the servants anyways? I didn’t see them during the attack.” I tried to change the subject again.

“Oh, they were in the cellar for some reason. I had to fetch them all. Guess they were drinking or something.” Fulgora grinned. “Not like I care if they drink all of Thor’s fancy drinks.”

“Hmm…” The pieces had been there for a while, and frankly the puzzle was long assembled enough to see the image, but I still would have liked more pieces before I said anything.

Eh, no better way to buy time than to tell Fulgora of a conspiracy involving the king and prince.

“Thor has a concubine that looks like you.” The words spilled out.

Fuglora stopped in place. “What?” She was about as dumbfounded as you could imagine.

“I think he likes to beat up a wolf-girl that kinda looks like you, so he can roleplay beating you up.”

“Wait, wait, wait. What?”

“I saw it when I was stealing wine from his room.”

“You did what?!”

“Wanna torment him with me?”

“I’m in.” Fulgora said without missing a beat.

Thor was hiding within the manor, having left his bedroom the moment after I blew up his room.

It wasn’t hard to figure out where he was. The guards didn’t feel like talking to their princess, but the concubine certainly did.

Seeing Fulgora interact with this other wolf-girl, it was kind of strange. I didn’t know if they had secret tells only other wolf-people would know, or what, but she was surprisingly sensitive with her.

I let the two have some space, while I figured out how I wanted to surprise the prince.

“Here, take this note with you, and make your way to the castle. I’ll have some guards escort you too. I’ll make sure you’ve got a way better job than working for this scumbag.” Fulgora handed her a scrap of paper as the two walked past me.

“B-but… the guards… what if…” The girl sounded almost nothing like Fulgora. Except maybe… a similar accent? Likely from the same area then.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure no one touches you ever again.” Fulgora grinned wildly, sparkling with electricity.

Apparently, the concubine followed the prince in his panicked escape, but was kicked out when he entered his panic room.

Well, it’s not like she loved him anyways. And now we know he had a panic room hidden in the cellar. Which might also explain why the servants fled there.

The panic room wasn’t even that hidden. Sure, it blended in with the stone walls around it, but it was made of a different, darker stone. Likely thick too.

“Gimme one moment.” Fulgora cracked her knuckles, lightning charging up. If she was daunted by the thick wall, she didn’t show it. But I grabbed her shoulder first, ignoring the shock that caused a brief spasm everywhere in my body. Including my lungs…

“Hold it. I’ve got a funner idea.” I spoke, holding back a cough. A brief image of the princess lecturing me on grammar popped up in my head, and I made a mental note to let her lecture me on grammar later.

This was the last bit of evidence I needed. So I wasn’t going to hold back. Even if my reserves were running low, even if my brain was already hurting, I was going to get what I wanted.

I had no idea what it looked like inside there, but that didn’t matter when you’re making illusions.. I charged up a shadowy illusion, moving it through the spaces around the door, sneaking wispy shadows within.

As my illusion formed, moving along my will, Fulgora and I pressed our ears to the door.

The voices were faint, but I could barely make out Thor’s voice, especially since he let out a squeal when the illusion of wispy shadows formed in the shelter.

“Lord Ash! W-what honor do I h-have to w-welcome you here?!”

I only heard a brief bit of Shaddy’s voice, but I like to think my illusion was passable.

“We’ve succeeded in killing both princesses.”

“R-really?! You did it?! That’s… that’s fantastic! You… you are sure that mongrel is dead, right?”

I didn’t like imagining it, but a severed head of Fulgora rolled out of the shadows.

The next sound was so bizarre, I could barely place it. It sounded like a scream of surprise morphing into a squeal of joy and cheer and laughter.

“You did it! You did it! Oh, I can’t believe this day has come! I only wish I could have seen her death in person!”

I briefly pulled away while he celebrated, and turned to Fulgora, a mix of bewilderment and second-hand embarrassment on my face. “Uh, I think he’s… uh… playing with your illusory head.”

Fuglora, who had no idea what was happening behind that door beyond just sound, was about to speak, but we heard Thor saying something, and quickly leaned back to the door.

“-double, no triple! I’ll triple the amount of water you asked for! I’m sure we’ll get a big storm coming soon!”

“Triple?!” Fulgora whisper-yelled. “That’ll dry up every river in the south!”

“That won’t be necessary.” A faint sound of a blade being pulled out. “Your usefulness has come to an end.”

“W-what? What are you talking about? I’m in control of all the rivers around here! You need my water!”

“Is that so? Yet the water is already flowing, and your death will hide all evidence of our involvement.”

“W-w-wait! What about my father! He won’t stand for this! He’ll know it was you! He was the one who brought you to me!”

“We have ways of keeping the king silent.”

“No! Please!” Unlike when Fulgora loudly sparked with electricity, Thor’s were barely noticed. But I could still hear a faint crack of thunder, followed by Thor scrambling out of the shelter, tripping over himself as he tried to book it out of the cellar.

Only to be grabbed by the leg by Fulgora, hung up by a woman smaller than him like a hunter with her catch.

Fulgora didn’t say anything. She didn’t smile. She didn’t yell. She just stared him right in the eyes as Thor glanced around wildly, panicking.

“F-fulgora? B-but I- you- where- that- you- dead-” As he stammered over his words, he glanced at the illusion of Shaddy and Fulgora’s head, which slowly faded out of existence.

I’ve never seen a man’s eyes so wide. I could almost see the gears in his head turning, trying to figure out what just happened. But he didn’t even glance my way.

“You…” Fulgora growled out, sharp teeth showing, her hair almost seeming to rise up as electricity flickered from strand to strand.

This was the first time I saw her angry, and she seemed completely different. Cracks and pops of electricity from her hand struck Thor’s ankle, burning holes in his pants, singeing hairs, and striking flesh.

Fulgora began snarling at Thor. Thor was caught between wanting to escape as he gripped the floor beneath him, and resigning to his fate. “People died tonight. Your people! They died because of you!”

“I didn’t know he would kill them!”

“Then why did you have most of the guards in your wing, which was completely unassaulted?” I crouched down to look him in the eye.

Thor seemed to see me for the first time, clearly confused because he didn’t know who I was. “Who-” But he was in no place to argue, as a jolt of lightning struck his ankle and could be visibly seen going down his leg. “Okay! Okay! I pulled back the guards, to keep them out of the way!”

“WHY?!” Fulgora roared. “Why did you let a champion of the Pariah Gods in?!”

“BECAUSE! You took everything from me! Everything! My crown! My destiny! Even my mother loves you more than me! You! A dingy mutt that never should have graced the halls of our castle!” Thor sounded crazy, his voice cracking. “Every day, I had to watch this dirty wolf get dragged around by the wrist, screaming and complaining about every little thing she had to do! I had to deal with being threatened every time I spoke to her! She bit me once, and laughed! Like she thought she was better than me! Even when she was running around the castle, dodging servants just because she didn’t want to wear a dress! Why wouldn’t I hate you with every fiber of my being?!”

Fulgora didn’t snap at that. She just took the insults. “I didn’t want to be royalty. I would have been perfectly happy with my mom on our farm. So why are you blaming me?! Why are you working with OUR enemies to sabotage YOUR home?!”

“It’s not my home! Not anymore! Even the guards obey you over me! They don’t even know you! I’ve been with them for years! It doesn’t matter if you hate the crown, you can’t reject it! The god of thunder would never allow it! So if I had you killed, I’d finally be free!”

“And how did that work out for you?” Fulgora almost whispered. The lightning stopped for a moment.

“I… I don’t know…” Thor’s head sagged. “It doesn’t matter anyways, you can’t prove anything. And you can’t kill me without angering our god.”

I threw some papers on the ground, right in front of his head. “Your father took notes when maybe he shouldn’t have. I think that’s enough evidence to bring you and him to justice.”

“Justice?” Fulgora laughed. “No. I refuse to judge this scumbag. I’ll let Aurelia do it.”

Thor’s eyes widened. “W-wait, you can’t! She’s a foreign royal! She has no power-”

“Shows how little you know of things.” Fulgora scoffed, and began dragging him out of the cellar, banging his head on every step.

“I’d be less worried about the politics, and more worried about being presented as a traitor before the princess who’s already got this whole conflict on her plate.”

“And maybe you should relax. I certainly won’t be in the same room with you a moment longer. I’ve got a shopping trip lined up instead.”

Great… she didn’t forget… and it’s still way too late for that.

Sorry, whomever we inconvenience, but I’m out of ideas.