The Phoenix Empire Pilgrimage: Chapter 1 (Grey)

“Láng? Hey, wake up, Láng.”

The girl in front of me covers her face as if to hide from the sun shining in from her window.

“Come on, we're gonna be late. We were called to the Great Hall. It's my responsibility to come and gather all of us...”

“...”

“Wake up! I'm the one who gets in trouble if we're late!” I start shaking the bed.

“Okay, stop it... I'm awake...” The black haired, red eyed girl finally comes out from underneath her sheets exposing her near-naked body, which is only covered by a sarashi.

“So, what is it you want?”

“We were called to the Great Hall. They have an assignment for us.”

She makes that same irritated face as always...

“Come on, don't be like that. Flèche is already there, waiting for us.”

“Tch... fine. Let me get dressed.”

...

After a few minutes, Láng is outside, where I stand waiting for her. “Okay? Now let's go.” We walk down the peaceful streets of the city...

“...Láng, you really should take better care of yourself.”

“What's wrong? I'm not sick or anything.”

I shake my head. “No, I mean, you know you'd be stronger if you fed yourself a bit more, right? Plus, it doesn't look very good for you to be so skinny...”

“Bah... I'm not skinny. You're just saying that because you like fat girls.”

“That's not true!”

I feel a little embarrassed when I say this, and it must look like it, too... because Láng starts laughing.

“Th... that's not funny, Láng!” Saying this, I'm actually fighting the urge to laugh, myself...

“It's okay, your secret's safe with me.” Why does it seem like she's happiest when she's picking on me? Ah, whatever. At least she's happy...

We continue to walk to the Great Hall, with a few people greeting us with a “Hello!” or “Good morning, Magic Knight Grey!” The citizens always seem happy to have me and my team around, which is nice.

After some time, we arrive. As I predicted, Flèche, our blonde, blue-eyed archer, is standing outside the Great Hall's main entrance, waiting for us.

“You're late, you two. Everyone else is inside.”

I scratch my head and flash a nervous smile. “Heh, heh, sorry... Remember to beg the Emperor for forgiveness for us later on, would you? You're a better speaker than I am, after all.”

Flèche shakes her head. “I doubt Emperor Ōtori would punish you for only being a few seconds late. He treats you like family, doesn't he?”

I nod. “Yeah, but me showing up late is bad for our reputation... I'd rather not risk that.”

Láng, having remained silent up to this point, says: “Well, we should hurry, then. Come on, let's not make things worse.”

“I agree,” I say, walking toward the guard at the door. “We've been called by the Emperor. Please, let us through.” Perhaps I should have introduced myself, but this guard recognizes us, anyway. With a quick nod, he steps aside and allows us to open the door.

“Ah, thank you for showing up, you three. We've been waiting for you,” Emperor Ōtori says, smiling. As Flèche predicted, he isn't angry with me for being late. Not wanting to draw any more attention to myself, I spot three empty seats at the table, and sit in the one closest to the Emperor, Flèche and Láng taking the other two.

I quickly look around the room. Aside from the usual council members, another person is here with us today. A middle-aged man, unremarkable looking, aside from the priest gown he is wearing. Breaking the silence, the Emperor begins to speak. “This man is the High Priest of the Order of Luna. He has come to ask a favor of you. High Priest, if you would, please...”

With that, the High Priest stands up and speaks. “Greetings, Magic Knights. I am the High Priest of Luna, Jiro. Nice to meet you.” He bows. “I beg of you, could you listen to this one request?”

I look around at the faces of my allies. Flèche and Láng both give an approving nod. “We will hear you, so please, speak.”

“As you may know, the time of the pilgrimage has come.”

“Pilgrimage?” I hear Flèche ask. Ah, that's right. Flèche is from Bevel, and had only come here about two years ago. She doesn't quite know everything about our religious customs.

“Oh? Ah, well, you see,” the priest starts to explain, “this is Luna's Day, the day that the goddess Luna sent her children from the Spirit World to help us humans. Everyday this year, we have someone go on a journey to pray in the forest, at the base of the tree that Luna left for us, as thanks. This year, we are sending my son, Shu, on this pilgrimage. All I ask is that you guard him from any dangers that might be on his way. Can you please do this?”

I turn to the Emperor, who gives me a nod of approval. Now, I smile at Priest Jiro, saying, “Yes, we will watch over your son on his pilgrimage. We will travel with him to the Lunar Forest and back. Thank you for relying on our services.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” Jiro bows again. “Now, I'll bring the boy here. Just a moment, please,” he says, walking away. We wait...

...

“G... greetings, Magic Knights,” the boy says, wearing a similar gown, after coming into the room with us. “My name is Shu. I must say, I'm very excited to go on this journey for the goddess with you all. I'll try not to get in everyone's way, so please, watch over and protect me.” After saying that, he looks around nervously, then bows.

“I'm pleased to meet you, Shu,” I say, extending my hand. He just looks at it for a moment, seemingly unwilling to shake it. Seeing this, I awkwardly retract my hand. “Don't worry, you're in good hands. We will let no harm come to you.”

“You know the way to Lunar Forest, right?” Flèche asks.

As if he had just noticed Flèche was in the room with us, Shu stares at her. I'm not surprised, since there aren't many foreigners here. She is probably the first person he's ever seen that looks like that. “Ah, well, miss, Lunar Forest is miles and miles east of here. We'll have to travel the Eastern Phoenix Road to get there.” He looks back at me. “So, shall we be on our way?”

I nod. “Yes. Let's be off.” I turn around to face the Emperor, and bow. “We shall return to you as soon as possible.” With that, we exit the Great Hall.

“So,” Láng says as we head for the East Gate. “Will we be taking horses to Lunar Forest? It's a pretty long walk, especially for someone who...” She looks at Shu, seemingly doubting that he's willing to walk there.

“No, it's okay. I can walk that far,” Shu says, coming to a stop. “Exercise is good for one's Qi flow, after all. Besides, I'd rather not have you waste money on horses because of me.” He still seems very nervous. Whether the cause is us, this assignment he's been given, or some combination of both, I can't really say for sure.

“Are you sure? If you don't feel like you can handle it, then we don't mind--”

“No, no, I insist. I-I don't want to be a burden.” He starts staring at his shoes... Smooth move, Láng.

“Well, if you say so. We're off!” Láng walks out of the East Gate and starts on the trail. We follow her.

Flèche walks up ahead with Láng, leaving me to talk with Shu. “Hey, Shu, don't be discouraged. Láng is always like this with other people.” As I say this, I find myself wondering why I have to apologize for her behavior...

“It's not a problem, Magic Knight Grey. It's not her fault... I don't have much confidence in myself, to be honest.”

For a moment, I think to myself. Why would they send this boy on this pilgrimage? This boy, who seems so frail and unsure of himself? “Surely they must have chosen you to do this for a reason, right, Shu? Wouldn't they have sent someone else otherwise? Even still, couldn't you have asked them to send another?”

“You're right, I was chosen, but because my family has carried out the pilgrimage every year, for a long time, now. It's supposed to be a great honor to be chosen to go on this journey. I just couldn't bring myself to say no...”

“Hmm... you know, I can see why you had a difficult time with it.” Shu looks surprised that I express sympathy for him. “Let me tell you a story. I wasn't supposed to be a Magic Knight at first. I was just a normal kid living in Dragon's Cradle, but seven years ago, a disaster occurred, and I nearly died. A Stargazer on his way to the Phoenix Empire was there at the time, and, out of compassion, he gave me the power that saved my life.

“I traveled with him to the Heart of the Phoenix, where Emperor Ōtori was waiting for the Stargazer to arrive and choose someone from within the Empire. Imagine his surprise when I, a boy from some island, had already been chosen! Anyway, he asked me if I would be willing to serve him in place of the other person who the Stargazer would have picked.”

“You couldn't say no, could you?” Shu asks, understanding where I was going with the story.

“That's right. I said 'yes', not because I really wanted to, but because I felt I had to. However, look at how I've been rewarded. Sometimes... well, a lot of times, there is a difference between what you want to do and what you must do, but it doesn't always have to be bad or make you unhappy. It hasn't been easy, being a Magic Knight. I have to put my life in danger for others, and there are people who would have tried to kill me to be in the position I'm in... but I feel that it's worth the hardship. I've been blessed with wonderful friends, and I get to make the Empire a better place, little by little. I'm happy I ended up on this path.”

“Oh, I get it... So, you think I'll be glad I went on this journey, even if I didn't really want to?”

“That's what I think, yeah,” I say, smiling. “Even if you lose heart, you've got good people guiding you. We'll help you do this.”

Shu smiles and nods. “I understand, now. Thank you, Magic Knight. I'm happy I had this talk with you.”

I look ahead. Láng and Flèche have gotten quite far from us. “We better hurry, or we'll be left behind. Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Shu says. “Let's go.”