Reflection

Medrauta sat across from Eris, an arm propped up on her leg. She watched the blonde-haired knight with a gaze of mild curiosity mixed with worry. Her sword rested beside her on the grass, its cold steel illuminated by the moonlight from above.

Approximately fifteen minutes had passed since Eris abruptly lost the will to fight upon seeing the reflection of her own twisted expression painted on Medrauta’s blade, but the blonde-haired knight hadn’t moved at all. Remaining curled up like a ball, Eris’ face was hidden from view by her legs, her arms wrapped around them.

Despite Medrauta’s attempts at breaking through the sudden shell Eris had constructed for herself, the smaller knight remained utterly unresponsive. Medrauta had no idea what was wrong with Eris nor what suddenly triggered this sort of behavior from her, but she could tell that she likely wouldn’t be the one who got her out of it.

Medrauta sighed, pushing herself off the ground. She’d sat here for long enough and the position of the moon told her there would only be a few more hours left of night. Scarlet and Viviane were likely still catching up after so long, meaning Medrauta would have the tent to herself for the first hour or so, at the very least.

She bent down, picking up her sword and sheathing it before taking one last look at Eris who still hadn’t reacted even a bit. “Stay put, alright? I’m gonna go get Lady Scarlet to pick you up or somethin’.”

“N-No!” Eris spoke at last, her raised voice unexpectedly loud in the silence of the night. “Don’t! Anything but that!”

“W-Whoa, Eris. Chill out,” Medrauta raised an eyebrow. She heaved yet another sigh, scratching the back of her head in contemplation as she watched Eris stare up at her with an almost pleading gaze. “I just thought you might want to see Lady Scarlet after... Well, after whatever happened, I guess.”

“Of course not!” Eris snapped. “Why would you think that!? Lady Scarlet is the last person I want seeing me in this sorry state! Ugh... Just... Just what have I been doing?”

Medrauta pursed her lips, watching her fellow knight silently as Eris stared long and hard at her hands. They looked thin and fragile at first glance, but the numerous calluses dotting her once delicate skin served as scars to prove the strength she had gained. Carefully, Medrauta made her way next to Eris and sat down.

The sudden loss of Eris’ will to fight still confused Medrauta to no end and her abrupt onset of sulking continued to be a mystery to the silver-haired knight, but Medrauta felt as though she had a duty to uncover the reason behind Eris’ mysterious behavior at the very least. After all, she was the only person in the vicinity when Eris’ breakdown occurred and the person who initiated the duel that was to blame for this.

I’m just finishing what I started. Medrauta cleared her throat noisily, drawing Eris’ attention in a rather inelegant manner that made it impossible for the smaller knight to ignore. “So, uh, what the hell happened? One second, you were raring to go, and the next you just kinda... Gave up? No, that’s not the right word. You were just... extinguished, I guess. Like when a candle is suddenly snuffed out.”

“...I saw it.” Eris said, her voice so soft that it was almost a whisper. “You saw it too, didn’t you? All this time, the desires I thought I’d locked away had been plain to see on this disgusting face of mine.”

As the strongest knight in the Imperial Academy who excelled in both duels and matches, Eris’s bouts had never lasted longer than a minute. Whenever she dove into battle, she committed all her mental and physical resources to the sole objective of victory, pressing the attack incessantly until her opponent was inevitably drowned in her deluge of daggers. Medrauta was the first truly worthy opponent she’d met, and the only one who managed to capture Eris’ reflection in their blade.

Every match at the academy... Every battle in the duchy... Was this accursed look on my face the whole time? Abruptly, Eris’s hands shot up and grasped her own face, her nails digging into her delicate cheeks and tearing her skin.

Medrauta frowned, grabbing Eris’ hands and prying them off her face as gently as she could. Even a quick look told the silver-haired knight that Eris’ self-inflicted wounds would take a few hours to close despite the accelerated healing factor that knights possessed.

“L-Let go!” Eris protested loudly, struggling frantically in Medrauta’s grip. “I need to get rid of this ugly face of mine! I need to fix it... I need to fix it before Lady Scarlet sees!”

“Calm the fuck down, Eris!” Medrauta shouted, causing Eris to flinch and cower away. “What the hell are you trying to do? Tear your own fucking face off!? Do you really think Lady Scarlet would want to see you hurting yourself?”

“You don’t... You don’t understand! How could you!? We’ve only just met! You can’t possibly understand how it feels for me to tarnish my reputation before Lady Scarlet!”

“Then help me understand.” Medrauta said simply, releasing her grasp on Eris’ hands slowly, making sure that her fellow knight wasn’t going to try hurting herself again. “Like you said, we’ve only just met. I don’t know you. All I know is that your blades stink of bloodthirst and you’ve got some crazed, almost desperate smile on your face whenever you fight. When I first saw it, I thought you were just desperate to win, but it looks like it’s a lot more complicated.”

Eris fell silent, averting her gaze from Medrauta. With her arms wrapped around herself and her face turned away, most people would have simply accepted the fact that Eris had closed herself off, but Medrauta refused to give up. Instead, the silver-haired knight continued to stare at Eris for what seemed like an eternity until she finally broke.

“...Why do you even care?” Eris asked bluntly. She simply couldn’t think of a reason why Medrauta was trying so hard to connect with her. “I was rude to you. The first thing I did was challenge you to a duel, and I even pointed my blade at you because I was frustrated. There’s no reason for you to be kind to me.”

Medrauta shrugged. “Well, you’re right about that. To be completely frank, I don’t care at all. What I do care about is my lady, and your breakdown here is sure to worry her.”

Eris’ eyes narrowed. Ironically, now that she knew she wasn’t being seen as some target for pity, she felt a lot more willing to speak. “What do you mean? Why the hell would I talk about my problems with Lady Viviane?”

“That’s not the point. You told me this wasn’t something you’d be able to talk to Lady Scarlet about, but she’s real observant, isn’t she? I imagine if I let you go back to the camp now, you’ll be moping about for days, worrying your head off about her seeing your face or whatever, and I doubt your lady’s gonna miss that. Normally, that wouldn’t be my problem, but Lady Scarlet’s a pretty close friend of Vivi’s, so I imagine they’ll talk.”

“...So what?”

Medrauta scoffed. “Do I need to spell it out for you? My lady is the most wonderful lady in the whole empire. She’s got a heart of gold and wouldn’t be able to bear the sight of her best friend’s knight suffering in silence. The moment she hears about you, she’s going to try helping you out. I guarantee it.”

Eris blinked, staring at Medrauta in a mixture of shock and amusement for a good moment before exploding into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. “What the hell!? In the end, you just wanted to brag about Lady Viviane!”

“Maybe,” Medrauta grinned, shrugging casually. It hadn’t been her intention at the start, but somehow Eris wasn’t wrong. “But I also don’t need you saddling her with your emotional baggage.”

Eris shook her head in amazement. “...At least we’ve got one thing in common. We’re both crazy about our ladies.”

“Can’t say you’re wrong there.” Medrauta admitted. “We’ve still got a couple more hours before the sun rises, so why don’t we sit awhile and you can tell me how you became Lady Scarlet’s knight along with this expression you’re worried about her seeing?”

“What’s in it for me?” Eris raised an eyebrow, making Medrauta pause for a moment to consider the question. In truth, Medrauta didn’t have much to offer and she normally would’ve simply said “Nothing” and allowed the matter to drop, but it simply didn’t feel right to abandon Eris now that she was finally opening up.

“I... suppose I could tell you about how Viviane and I ended up meeting.”

Eris stared off into the night sky, nodding several times to herself before finally responding. She turned to Medrauta with a smile. “Sounds good to me.”