Speaking under Starlight

-Gray-

“She’s not in a good mood.” Fulgora stated the obvious, as we both looked at the princess, seeming to put her all into riding her horse across the plains. Already, the grasses of Raedenia were fading into the rocky outcroppings of Almastia.

If it wasn’t for the dirt path, it’d be too dangerous to ride our horses at this speed.

“Can’t blame her. I mean, how long has she known Boranus? Possibly her entire life, and she just finds out he’s a traitorous scumbag? And she can’t do anything about it without wasting time.”

Fulgora hasn’t snarked at all since the princess found out about the treachery. In fact, the princess barely spoke two sentences to us before we rode off at sunrise. We’ve been riding near nonstop all day, and the sun was painting the sky orange now.

“I don’t feel bad for sticking it to those idiots, but it really could not have come at a worse time.” Fulgora’s ears were flattened down on her head, and I could swear her hands were gripping my waist a little tighter.

“But what can we do? I don’t think she’s going to stop for the night.”

“Well, we’ve got to talk to her. Face to face. And we can’t do that on horseback. If only we could convince her to stop, even for a bit.”

“Gotcha.” I nodded. “You might want to let go. I’ve got a plan.”

Fulgora hesitated for a moment, before letting go of my waist, and I leaned my body to the right until the jostling of the horse knocked me right off into the rocks.

“What are you doing, you idiot?!” Fulgora was caught between yelling in shock, and laughing in surprise.

Me falling was enough to make the princess stop as well, turning back to see what happened. I couldn’t tell what face she was making through her helmet, but I wasn’t going to stop with just a fall.

“Oof, sorry! Lost my balance all of a sudden.” I pick myself up, and walk back to my horse, only to tip and fall over again. “Whoa, I think my legs have gotten a bit numb! Just give me a moment, and I’ll be fine!”

I sat down on a rock, and I tried not to look at her, but I could tell the princess hopped off her horse, coming over to me with a staff. “We don’t have time for breaks.” She said, bonking me a little harder than she should have with her staff, as a healing spell went through me.

But, her spells weren’t as rejuvenating as my own. And since I was faking (sorta faking) exhaustion…

“Okay… I think… I’m better… now.” I said, adding a few puffs in there as I force myself to my feet, and fall immediately back down on my butt.

“What are you doing?” The princess said, sounding a bit irritated. “We don’t have time to mess around, Gray.”

“Umm, I don’t think he’s messing around, Goldie.” Fulgora hopped off the horse, and approached, acting worried, but tossing me a brief wink. “Going from fighting a demigod, to exposing a prince, to riding nonstop with the barest of meals?” Fulgora shook her head and shrugged. “Ain’t got much left in the tank, if you know what I mean.”

I’ll admit, my magic reserves weren’t good, but I still put on a show of my magic sputtering in my hand, as if trying to recover some energy. I let out an awkward, weak laugh, and sag my head. “Sorry Princess… Just go on ahead without me. I’ll catch up… Eventually…”

She looked up at the setting sun, and sighed. “No, no it’s alright. We should set up a camp, get some light going. We don’t want to be caught by surprise again.” She walked off to her horse to pick up her supplies, and Fulgora and I shared a quick thumbs up.

Maybe people will die because we’re wasting this time. But sometimes the saviors need saving too.

So we set up a camp. Previously, we just stopped by nearby towns to stay the night, but this time we were in the middle of a road to who knows where.

I never actually checked my horse’s saddlebags, or its name for that matter. “Lux, huh? Shoulda figured.” It, sorry… she was a beautiful white-furred horse with a brown mane. Though the fur wasn’t as white as the princess’ own horse, Lumière.

If you told me the horse was also divine, I would believe you. The sight of the princess brushing her horse was worthy of a painting.

“Uh… where are you planning on sleeping?” I asked when I began pulling out the tent, and realized that we only had a total of two tents. One for the princess, and one for me.

Fulgora was standing behind me, pretending to help. “Huh? Yours I guess.”

She said that way too casually.

“Not with the princess?”

She scoffed. “What, so we can brush each other’s hair and gossip about the latest dresses? Nah, we’d sooner tear each other apart, trapped so close together like that.” She pushed past me, and grabbed the tent from my hands, hopping over to a clear spot among the rocks, and got started setting it up.

“But-”

“But what?” Fulgora grinned at me. “I’m not going to force you to sleep outside, and you think I want to sleep out there, without a storm over my head?”

That was a good point. Her father’s storm cloud stayed behind in her kingdom.

I was glad, though I would never admit it out loud. The rain was nice, but gods, I was tired of getting drenched. Thankfully the clothes Fulgora bought for me were very waterproof, but still! I much prefer being able to see the stars.

“You’re not going to do anything… untoward, are you?” I asked, suspicious.

She cackled. “Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Who’s to say?”

I groaned. Ugh, at least I didn’t plan on sleeping anyways.

There was enough drywood nearby to create a campfire, and, according to the princess, with stable light around our camp, any agents of Shadows would have a hard time affecting us like how Shaddy did. What with us being outside, and the moon shining on us.

I was planning on just having some rations, but to my surprise, Fulgora was actually cooking at the campfire.

“What? I grew up on a farm. My mom taught me everything I needed to know about cooking. All I needed to do was buy the food in Cloudburst.”

I had no cooking skill (recently sick for over a decade).

The princess had no cooking skill (princess).

Was Fulgora somehow the responsible one among us?

“Here, take this bowl to her.” She snapped me out of my thoughts, and pointed to the princess, sitting on some rocks at the edge of camp. Her light seemed faint.

“Me? What about you? You should talk to her. You’re equals!”

“If you think we’re equals, then you haven’t learned much.” Fulgora looked at me with a very serious expression. “We may both be princesses, but you are her knight. It’s your responsibility.”

“B-but I have no idea how to cheer up someone.”

Fulgora plopped my own bowl in my other hand, and looked at me with an understanding smile. “But you want to learn right? Go to her! You’ll never win her heart like this!”

I sputtered at how cool Fulgora seemed to be all of a sudden.

She leaned in with a teasing smile. “Besides, maybe she’ll let you sleep with her tonight?”

Wow… sharing a tent with the princess? That actually felt rather more appealing than Fulgora laying on me like a dog.

“Go!” She pushed me towards the princess, until my legs took over.

It didn’t feel right to bother the princess when she was lost in thought, but this was the reason why we took a break, after all.

“H-hey. Dinner’s ready.” I spoke, plopping down next to her, but with plenty of space between us, as I held out a bowl to her.

“Huh? Oh, thanks. Sorry, I didn’t hear.” Her helmet was resting next to her, along with her staff, and I could tell her mind was elsewhere. But she took the bowl, and began to mindlessly eat.

A silence came back around us, and I noticed she was specifically looking at the moon rising in the sky. It was a waxing crescent, reminding me of a smile.

We ate, but didn’t speak. The words just didn’t sound right in my head, and I kept hesitating.

I’ve never had to cheer someone up before. How do I start now?

An idea popped in my head. I gulped down the rest of the stew (surprisingly delicious), and plopped my bowl down next to me, but flipped the spoon in my hand.

Then, I began drawing with the spoon handle in the dirt in front of us. It must have attracted her attention, because I could see her looking at what I was drawing out of the corner of my eye.

“This is my dad.” I spoke as I finished my drawing, dotting the eyes.

It was a stick figure.

Yeah, I always meant to learn how to draw, but never got around to it before my hands began wasting away.

Yes, I probably could have just used illusions to create him perfectly, but I didn’t want to.

At least I gave him a cool top hat. He’d have liked that more than anything else.

“I’ve only ever talked about my mom.” Which, to be fair, made sense in a world where the magically gifted parent is more important. “But my dad… he’s the reason I act the way I do. Whether in or out of battle.”

I began scribbling more things around him. A badly drawn rabbit. A wand. A bunch of cards.

“He was a magician, always full of tricks and-”

“Wait, I thought you said you got your magic from your mother?” I let out a small sigh of relief when I realized the princess was listening.

I chuckle. “No, magicians are different. They’re people who use tricks to make you think they have magic. It’s like a performer. And my dad was one of the best. You knew it wasn’t real, but he always managed to make you forget that for a moment.” My smile falters for a moment. “I… uh, I only saw one of his shows in person, before…”

Reforming my smile, I looked back up at the princess. “But when I got sick, he put on magic shows in my room all the time! Taught me all sorts of tricks too!”

She gave an awkward smile. “I’m afraid I’m having trouble visualizing this.”

“Then let me show you! No magic, just sleight of hand. Let’s see here…” I grabbed a small rock from the ground, and held it up in my right hand.

“As you can see, I have this rock, a pebble in fact.” I let it rest on my palm, as I moved my palm back and forth, watching her golden eyes track it with a mix of amusement and curiosity.

“But, did I ever have the pebble in the first place?” I flipped my hand around, making the pebble fall off, but when the princess’ eyes moved to where the pebble should have been falling, she saw nothing.

“See, no pebble to be found.” I showed her how both my palms were empty. “Oh wait, what is that?” With my left hand, I reached to her ear, and pulled out the pebble. “It looks like you had it on you the entire time!”

The princess blinked in surprise. It was a childish trick to be sure, but I found myself a little antsy, curious to see what she thought.

And then she brought her hand up to her mouth, hiding the small giggle I got in response

That sound, that briefest moment…

Nothing made my spirits soar as much as that.

“I see… A bunch of parlor tricks… Fit for entertaining the masses.” She smiled at me. She seemed happy.

So, I picked back up my spoon, twirled it on my hand, and handed it to her. “What about your family? I haven’t heard anything about them.”

She blinked, surprised, and slowly took the spoon from me. “My parents? Why would you want to hear about them?”

“Well, I want to know more about you. I am supposed to be your knight, right? I want to hear about your life.” I give a self-deprecating smile. “Frankly, I’ve never had much of one, so living vicariously like this is a bit of an older hobby of mine.”

The princess was silent a few moments, before turning to the dirt in front of us, beginning to draw.

She was a far better artist than I, even if she just drew two faces and no bodies. They weren’t realistic or anything, but more like something you’d expect from someone with frequent drawing experience. I could almost imagine seeing these drawings on a ‘Missing!’ poster.

There was a man, with sharp angular features contrasted by a bright smile.

There was a woman, with noble bearing and a polite smile.

“These are my parents.” The princess said with a wistful smile. “My father is the king, and where my blood comes from. My mother was the daughter of a noble family, trained as a priestess of the goddess. It was through the goddess’ grace that my parents were allowed to come together.”

I carefully guided her to speak more about her family. Always listening, and giving sentences that encouraged her to speak more.

She told me about how her father was like a bear, always concerned when his daughter traveled, and always greeting her back with a bone-crushing hug.

She told me about how her mother encouraged her love of reading. How she would read stories of knights and heroes to her daughter every night.

She told me of a life in a castle, the only child, revered for her appearance, and expected to uphold a level of decorum at all times, to avoid shaming the goddess.

When she was winding down her stories, I asked another question. “What about friends? Did you not have any friends growing up?”

The princess was somber at that, idly tracing a pattern into the dirt beneath the pictures she drew while telling me about her family. “No… I’m afraid not. I was always considered ‘above’ others, even those close to the crown. Even at the academy, I was placed on a pedestal, something to be looked upon, but never touched.”

“Is that why you look happier among the villagers we saved? Because-”

“Yes… to them, I might as well be the goddess, but they live their simple lives under the protection of the goddess. They are closer to her than many back home. So, even the respect they treat me with, feels one based on gratitude rather than differences.”

“But what about Fulgora? You two get along like a house on fire.”

She glared at me like that. “You’re making a jest of me? Like I could get along with someone so irresponsible and foolish.”

“Well, I think you could use a little foolishness in your life. Besides, Fulgora doesn’t look at you like you’re above her. She’s pretty much your equal, if not in power, then at least in station.”

The princess scoffed, turning her head away, her hair flicking to one side. “I’ve got better ways to waste my time than be taunted by her and her… her childish antics!” She let out a breath, before turning back to me, looking me in the eyes. “You’re the closest person I’ve got to a friend.”

I kind of recoiled at that. Yeah, hearing it made my heart soar again, but it really felt like it came out of left field. “What?! But what about your former knights? I thought you were close to them!”

She looked a little pained. “I was close to them… I trained alongside Arianell ever since I was a child. But… there was always that barrier between us. She always treated me with this… undeserved respect. Always calling me ‘My Lady’ or something, even when we made flower crowns out of sunflowers, or had tea in the courtyard. I’d tell her to stop, and she’d always go ‘Of course, My Lady.’” There was a complicated expression on her face, maybe a faint longing for connection.

I was silent.

I just stared at the princess. Maybe for a good minute, until she locked eyes with me, and started looking confused.

“That’s what a friend does, Princess. They tease you. They rib you. They laugh and play with you, and at the end, you hate them as much as you love them.”

“What? No, that’s not friendship. Friendship is being truly equal with someone else, like you. You play pranks on me, but never act rude. You find ways to have fun, even when things seem bleak. Even now, you faked being weak just to talk to me.”

I let out a sheepish grin. “Ah, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh huh…” She gave me a side-eye. “Actions like that… You don’t see me as a goddess, or a princess. You just see me as Aurelia.”

Shaking my head, I provide a counter. “Yet, I’ve never called you by name. Friendships aren’t always built on equality, because not everyone is equal. Look at us. You’re an insanely powerful demigod princess. I’m a guy who was sick his entire life. We’re about as opposite as opposite can be. And yet… Here we are, talking like equals, sitting under the same moon and stars.”

We both looked up at the night sky, so beautiful in its silent majesty.

“Aurelia.” She spoke after a few minutes. “Please, just call me Aurelia.”

I turned my head, and gave her a grin. “As you wish… Princess.”

She couldn’t hold back her groan, and shoved me in the shoulder with a brief laugh. “Please, don’t.” Her mood turned somber. “I… I have times I don’t want to feel burdened by everything, where I can feel like myself, and not just the goddess’ representative. So please Gray, just call me Aurelia.”

“Fine…” I rolled my eyes. “Aurelia it is. Makes it a lot easier on me, anyways.”

“Thank you.” Aurelia’s eyes twinkled as she smiled at me, not a radiant smile, but beautiful nonetheless.

As I was trying to think of what else to say to cheer her up, she decided to drop a bomb on me.

“I… admire the way you go through life. Finding enjoyment in everything you see, whether big or small. I find it… inspiring.” She reached over, and gently took my hand. “A person like you doesn’t deserve to be brought into this conflict, but… I am thankful you’re here.”

Being told that someone admires me? Someone relies on me?! The kid who was too sick to move for the past few years? The one who was pitied, who needed to be helped?

That sent me over the moon.

“I’m thankful I met you too, Aurelia.” I squeezed her hand back, my genuine smile threatening to consume my entire face. “Seeing how you interacted with those two children way back in that forest where we first met… I thought you were as beautiful as the stars in the sky. Getting dragged into an impromptu dance with you at the feast afterwards… The way you shine so bright when having fun… I admire that.”

“Huh?” She had a faint blush on her cheeks. Probably smaller than the one I had on mine.

“I really like bright things… Especially when my vision began to fail near the…” I trailed off. “The way you put duty first, above all else, but still strive for chances to relax and have fun. I really respect that… Which is why I want to try to find a way to make you have fun, even when you’re laser-focused on things.”

I look her straight in the eyes this time. “I may not be the best fit for one of your knights, but I want to follow you. I want to cheer for you. I want to support you however I can. And when you’re down in the dumps, I want to carry you back to the light.”

Letting go of her hands, I looked back up at the moon. I charged some magic in my hand, did the mental calculations, and aimed it right at the visible part.

A blast of purple magic flew out of my hand, about the size of a fist. It was risky, I’ve never done anything like this before, but it was worth trying.

My magic lets me create all sorts of things with my energy. Typically, the stuff I form is just elemental stuff that is designed to be used up. But the stuff I create isn’t temporary unless I spend more energy to establish it as immediately temporary. But my spells do still fade over time.

If I created ice, it would eventually melt.

If I created acid, it would be washed away.

Earth would eventually crumble.

Wind dissipates.

And fire fizzles out.

So what if I use something that won’t fade away? Something as magical as magic, but based on the real world.

Something no one else can obtain.

I could feel my spell hit the moon after a few seconds, and began charging up my next spell.

There was no worry about the spell erasing the moon, since the spell only has just enough energy to dig a chunk of rock out for me. All I had to do was reach out with my magic, and grab the rock before it could dissolve.

I could feel the palm-sized rock flying through space, guided by my will, as I put more and more speed into it, until it became an orange shooting star, shooting through the sky, right at us.

“Uh, Gray, what are you doing?” Aurelia asked, climbing to her feet as she both stared at the sight in amazement and wariness.

“Um… do you mind… catching that for me?” I was losing control of the rock, unable to do much more than guide it to us, and shield it from the ungodly amount of heat it’s probably going through.

To her credit, Aurelia didn’t sigh, or make a snarky comment. She picked up her staff, and her halos popped to life behind her, all while her eyes never left the comet.

She flew up to meet it, not with a gust of wind that’d come with flapping wings, but with a ‘whoosh’ of someone zooming into the sky like a golden missile.

The orange comet collided with the golden comet, and moments later, Aurelia was a few feet above the ground, slowing her descent, before dropping to her feet gracefully.

In her hand was the chunk of moon rock, the orange glow fading as it wasted the last of its energy trying to escape the demigod’s grip. Only when it stopped struggling in her hands, did she loosen her grip, showing us the rock.

At least, I thought it was a rock, but instead it was a chunk of metal, smoothed into a shape by the various actions that led it here, despite my magic protecting it.

Not even palm-sized, it was perhaps half the size of Aurelia’s palm, in a long triangular shape, possibly from her grip?

“Gray? What is this?” I couldn’t quite tell if she was shocked, amused, bewildered, or something else.

“It’s a… keepsake.” I smiled. “Something to always remind you of the fun you can find in the smallest of things. And it’s also a promise.” I put my hand on her shoulder, perhaps a bit forward, but I wanted to get this out. “I promise that, no matter what happens in the future, no matter what cruelties, what injustices happen, no matter what actions and decisions you must take, I will always be on your side. So feel free to focus on your duty as much as you need, because I’ll be here to keep you smiling through it all, waiting for the day you can smile with me.”

I would have liked to turn it into a necklace or something, but I couldn’t use magic to make a chain or string or whatever. Eh, I can hopefully find something in the next city.

Aurelia seemed taken back by the gift. “Gray… you didn’t need to… pull a piece of the moon out for me. I’m not so vain that I need such an extravagant object.” She held the gift up, letting the light of the moon reflect off of its shiny gray surface.

As she held it up between us, a thoughtful look appeared on her face, before blooming into a gentle smile when she looked between it and me. “But thank you, my friend. I’ll cherish it forever. And I’ll be counting on you to keep your promise, okay? So no dying until this war is over.”

“Aye aye, Princess.” I gave a mock salute.

Only for it to be broken by a feisty wolf-girl tackling me from behind with a yell. “No fair! How come she gets the cool moon rock!” She whined with a laugh, slamming me to the ground playfully. “I want a gift too!”

“Fulgora!” Aurelia put down her staff, and tried to pry Fulgora off of me. “I thought you went to bed!”

“Nah, I was listening the whole time! I ain’t gonna miss this moment, Goldie! Turns out you do have a heart!” Fulgora was pulled off of me, and the two began to argue, but the sound was drowned out by me.

Specifically, my hacking coughing fit. I tried to climb up to my knees, but my chest was heaving and my hands were stuck to my mouth, instinctively preparing to catch anything I coughed up.

Tears built in my eyes as the coughing fit continued to the point of pain, and I felt Aurelia’s gentle hands guiding me back down to our seat. “Gray, are you alright?” She was patting my back.

It helped somewhat, and the coughing died down. “Y-yeah…” Still, it was hard to speak with these faint coughs interrupting me. “Just… swallowed down… the wrong… pipe.” I coughed one more time, louder than the others, clearing my throat and allowing everything to settle.

“Okay, okay, I’m better now…” I took some deep breaths. “Whew, not much you can do when water goes where it wants, huh?” I laughed it off, my smile returned as I cleaned the spit off my hands with a quick spell.

“Here, drink some water.” Aurelia handed me a waterskin. “Meanwhile…” She turned her eyes to Fulgora, who was looking a little sheepish, idly patting my back to help me with the coughs. “Fulgora, he may not mind being tackled, but you should be mindful of your surroundings! This land is filled with rocks that would tear his body apart, so you should learn to think before you leap!”

Fulgora’s ears were folded down. “Yeah, sorry Gray.” She moved her hand from my back to my shoulder, giving it a firm pat and squeeze. “But I wanted to get involved in this conversation, now that the lovey dovey stuff is done.”

Aurelia frowned. “Lovey dovey? There was nothing of the sort involved. Just an affirmation of friendship.” She suddenly seemed to recall our words earlier, and averted her eyes. “But, Fulgora, I do apologize how I’ve treated you before, and… well, I’d still be honored to consider you a friend too.”

That caught the wolf-girl off guard, taking a step back, a big blush on her face. “W-what? Oh, yeah, sure, Goldie. Life just isn’t as fun without someone as stoic as you to tease and prod.” She turned the blush into a toothy grin.

There were some words being shared between the two, but I was suddenly having a very hard time keeping my eyes open. Sure, I hadn’t slept in a while, but my magic should have been keeping me awake, even depleted as it was.

I couldn’t even muster the strength to yawn, as my body started swaying where I sat. My eyes felt like weights, and even my body wasn’t fighting the incoming sleep anymore.

“-I’ve got some string, I can rig up a quick necklace for that stone, if’n you want to wear it.” Fulgora’s voice sounded so far away, as my head began to tilt.

“Really? You? Hmm, I suppose I-” Aurelia was cut off by my head collapsing onto her shoulder, already succumbing to my dreaded sleep.

Yet… I didn’t have memories of the past on repeat tonight.