The courage I want

The next day, Reyna sat in a large dining hall, with candles on the walls and several rows of wooden tables lined up. Bowls of exotic fruits, meats, and all other sorts of otherworldly foods she didn’t recognise were placed all over. Her own plate had several pieces of brown, chewy meat, grey apple-looking things that tasted way too sour, and a mug containing what tasted more like rotting excrement than a legitimate beverage. Even the smell made her nose wrinkle and threaten to leave her body.

Looking around the hall, she spotted Layla the next table over to her, leaning forward and carefully calling her name.

“Layla; hey, Layla!”

The young girl shot up with a startled jump, soon realising who called her, and sneaking on over, looking all around her as if she would be in trouble if even a single soul saw her, eventually sitting down besides Reyna.

“W-what’s the matter, chosen one?”

“‘Reyna’, call me Reyna! Anyway, doesn’t this food taste kind of awful to you?”

“Wha- we aren’t allowed to say that!”

The girl jumped up again, completely flustered about what she had just been asked, only for Reyna to grab her by the shoulders and quickly pull her back down.

“Keep your voice down then so you aren’t heard! Be honest, do you like it?”

“It- it could be better …”

“See! It’s garbage! I’m going to go ask for better food!”

She slammed her hands down on the table and pushed herself up, ready to storm right on over to whoever was responsible. Layla’s face began to burst with panic, her entire body jittering like the world was going to end.

“D-don’t! You’ll be reprimanded!”

Seeing how stressed she was about it, Reyna sighed, reluctantly sitting down, though not without pouting a little.

“Aw, fine, but I don’t know how long I can live like this.”

“I don’t know how you can do that; be so … upfront about everything.”

Reyna noticed the girl’s mood begin to drop, getting the sense that she was chastising herself in a way. She smiled as enthusiastically as she could, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Well, to be honest, when we fought Cecilia, at first I couldn’t make up my mind about what I wanted. I didn’t trust myself to make my own decisions, and was letting her do it for me, but you know, that just didn’t feel right. It made me realise that, if you want something, sometimes you just have to go and get it!”

Layla’s pupils grew to twice their size in amazement, and Reyna smiled even brighter, though not before eyeing her food again and prodding at it unfavourably.

“Although, I imagine even the food that woman is eating down in the dungeon is better than this …”

For the first time since she’d arrived in this world, Reyna saw Layla chuckle. She grinned back, happy to see her like that, before hesitantly getting back to her food.

A while later, Reyna found herself back in the courtyard, on the large circular patch of grass in the middle. The blonde-haired woman, Serena, stood opposite her, clapping her hands together in excitement.

“Alright, chosen one! Are you ready to go again?”

“Actually …”

She turned her head to the Advisor and Layla, sitting on the side-lines, setting her sights on the latter.

“... I was wondering if I could face Layla, this time?”

“Oh? Well, if that’s what you want, I don’t see why not. Come on, Layla.”

Serena gracefully gestured Layla over, much to the girl’s own dismay. As she shook on over, Reyna could practically see the nerves radiating off of her as she took her spot on the grass.

“I don’t understand, why do you keep picking on me?”

“Huh? I’m not picking on you; I think you’re fun! At the very least, you’re the closest person to a friend I have in this place.”

Reyna beamed, catching her off guard, replacing her nerves with surprise, but also, a strange but comforting feeling. Unexpectedly, she began to feel a little warm and fuzzy inside.

“A friend? Me?”

Before Reyna could respond, Advisor began to grow tired of waiting, leaning forward and calling the two to action.

“Hey, stop dawdling! Time you spend talking is time you can spend sparring!”

Reyna’s spine jolted up, throwing her hands to her side as she erratically stood to attention.

“S-sorry!”

Layla stared at her for a second, taking a second to process her overreaction, then suddenly covered her mouth as she let out a chuckle. Reyna looked back at her in surprise, transitioning into a knowing smirk as she readied herself.

“Heh, alright, let’s start!”

From there, the days in the castle rushed by. Reyna found herself chasing Layla around more and more, complaining about the food millions of times, sharing random titbits about her sister, and even learning little things about her, from how her favourite colour was black, to how she enjoyed spending time feeding the giant lizard things due to the connection she felt to them as fellow ‘monsters’; she even learned that they were actually called ‘Togaks’ officially.

And Layla, despite her hesitancy to share anything about herself, and taking centuries to answer each question, eventually began to look forward to each time Reyna would dash up to her, even if she found her disregard for personal space a bit overwhelming at times. Before long, they arrived on the day just before the end of the week. Despite the fun the two had over the course of it, things were starting to feel serious again. They found themselves sitting on Reyna’s bed in her room, the owner of said bed looking down as she pondered the day to come.

“It’s tomorrow, isn’t it?”

Layla’s posture tightened together, her eyes tearing up as they dug into the floor.

“Yes, but I don’t know what to do.”

Hearing the sadness in her voice, Reyna perked herself up, placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, speaking as reassuringly as she could.

“Whether it’s ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, if you’ve got something you want to do, then think about how you feel. If not acting on those feelings would result in something you know you’d never forgive yourself for, then you’ve just got to act on it, consequences be damned! But also, no matter what you choose, I’ll support you!”

As she finished off her declaration, she delivered a wide smile. Layla’s eyes still dripped with tears, but as she looked up, they also began to twinkle.

“Thank you, Reyna. Thank you so much!”

Although for a different reason now, the drops of tears coming out of her eyes turned into waterfalls, causing Reyna to jump up and panic to try calm her down. After what seemed like several minutes of solid crying and consoling, the two of them eventually settled down, and the night passed on.

Darkness shone throughout the day as the black sun in the sky hung over the execution site. Xander, Advisor, Reyna, Layla, and dozens of civilians stood around a lone wooden platform in the city square, containing a singular noose. Walking slowly up the stairs was Zayden, being guided up by Serena, fully-dressed in her armour, preventing any emotion from being shown on her face; Xander and the rest of the dark suns were dressed the same.

Zayden’s expression, however, was clear for all to see; a dark grimace, resigned to his fate. Without saying a word, Serena tightened the rope around his neck, positioning herself ready to drop him down. Xander walked slightly forward, turning around to address the crowd.

“Today, we not only witness the execution of the man who chose to disobey my orders, but we witness a warning; a warning to anyone who would go against my will, as it is the will of the people!”

The crowd around them cheered, some chanting Xander's name, others slandering Zayden’s in various ways. Reyna gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, wanting to do something, but knowing she most likely didn’t have the power to, not when going against every person here; she wasn’t sure that she would make any difference.

“Zayden, is there anything that you wish to say to the crowd?”

“The crowd? No. I have nothing to say to the masses. However, there are two people I’d like to express my thanks towards.”

He smiled, almost in defiance for the hopelessness one in his position would usually feel, and looked towards Reyna.

“Reyna, thanks for helping us before. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help you in return like I’d promised, but your spirit is inspiring, and I hope you manage to make it back home.”

Reyna nodded respectfully, to which he did the same, then turning towards Layla. Even though her helmet was covering her expression, he could tell right away how distraught the look on her face was.

“Layla, I’ll miss you. You were the reason I was able to keep going after I lost my parents, the reason I went as far as I did in the world, and you’re the reason that, even now, I’m happy with my life; I want you to know that I don’t regret a single thing, and I want you to keep living as best as you can.”

Layla didn't respond, simply standing there, silent; he knew she was likely doing her best to hold back her tears.

Once he was done, he looked back at Xander, signalling that he was done. With that, the king took a deep sigh, and made his decree.

“It is time.”

Zayden shut his eyes tightly as the crowd began to chant for him to fall. Serena stood ready, preparing to release the trap door below him as the crowd counted down.

“Three … two … one!”

“Stop!”

Just before Serena could pull the lever, she let go. Slamming directly into her face was a long tentacle, pushing her straight off the platform. It grabbed onto the wood, then, retracting her arms, Layla flew towards Zayden, landing directly in front of him. The crowd called out in an uproar as they cursed her interference. Reyna’s eyes opened wide in surprise, and Xander’s voice bellowed with quiet rage.

“Layla, what in the world are you doing?”

The young girl stood her ground, throwing off her helmet and holding both her arms out to protect her father, shouting out at everyone listening.

“I- I’m making up my mind; this is what I want to do!”