The time had come to start over. He had just seen one of his best friends murdered before his eyes, and another had betrayed them, and he knew that the time had come to strike out on his own. He also knew that he personally needed time to work things out. To see the world, to find himself, to make the effort and become stronger. Absentmindedly he rubbed the mark on the back of his neck. It was the one thing that had brought him to this point. It was his destiny, his malady, and his greatest pride. Water. That was his true name; though he called himself by many. His birth name was Jinosa Martine, though he felt it appropriate at this new stage of his life to call himself by another name... Remiel Delacroix. This is the story of that man, that name, that change.
After crossing the ocean, he arrived in the Royaume de Chevalier, the knights' kingdom. Glorelia, the capital city was at the bottom of a valley, with a broad lake beside. As the clouds passed over the city, he could see blankets of shadow and light, he felt a strong breeze, and he smelled hundreds of homes cooking their midday meals.
He arrived in Glorelia, in one of the lower class districts. Everywhere he looked, there were children playing in the street, vendors with meager goods, and beggars. Having traveled such a long way, his own cloak was torn and ragged. His hair was disheveled, and he felt a deep thirst rising in his throat. He pushed through the beggars, though his heart was heavy for them. The people regarded him with fear and longing at the same time, as if they knew he could help them, but refused to get their hopes up. His heart ached at the thought, yet he continued to push onward. As he continued, he noticed the houses became nicer and the buildings appeared more reputable. He looked for a bar to gather some information.
The first question on his mind was how to enter the knighthood. Royaume de Chevalier, he knew, was a neutral territory. They had a training program through which many countries sent warriors to become stronger, and many strong men went to become knighted into service for Glorelia and all the lands surrounding. Thinking of this, he looked at his own arms and legs; the arms and legs of a mage. The second question was if he could really pull this off.
He found the bar nearby, a smaller building in an alley nearby. There were plenty of people who looked like they didn't want any company, and several who appeared to be doing something illegal. He walked up to the bar and pulled out a gold coin, catching the eye of the bartender, a stout man with a large brown moustache. "What can I get for you, son?" The man asked.
"I'm sure someone like you would be able to answer a few questions about the knights for me, would you not?" He said, leaning in slightly.
"For the right price I can tell you anything. Everyone around here calls me Yves, glad to be at your service." The bartender grinned. "And you are?"
"Remiel Delacroix." He replied. "First of all, where is the knight's headquarters?"
"Ah, mon ami... I couldn't charge you for that kind of information. You could ask any person on the streets for that. At the top of the hill, there is a building with flags all around." Yves said.
"How does one go about entering the knighthood if he has no documentation?" Remiel asked.
"They don't," Yves said, looking around him and leaning in closer, "but if you're willing to cough up enough for some false papers, I have a friend in the lower city who has a way in."
Remiel flipped the coin in the air, and Yves caught it. "Thanks for your time." Remiel said.
"Next time, you buy something to drink!" Yves yelled back.
As he left the bar, Remiel noted the closing hours and decided to look around the city. Compared to the backwater towns and even the grand city of Winter he had been to, Glorelia was very advanced. There was a large box shaped vehicle which ran on a system machines as well as magicks which could be brought up and down hills, and magicks lit the streetlights. It was a large city, and it was laid out in a series of roads and alleys in a grid pattern that was easy to follow.
Along the street he saw a small cafe that was closing with a couple of musicians singing about love and stopped to listen. He could never remember the words to the song, as hard as he tried, but he felt calm... and for the first time since he started the journey, very lonely.
He stayed for several minutes, drinking in the soft melody and standing silently in the night. After the song ended, he placed a gold coin on their table and thanked them. "No, please keep it," the woman said, with a thick islander's accent. "We' not in it fo' de monneh annehway."
"You sure?" Remiel asked before stooping to the table.
"Oh yes, and what are you dropping that kind of money here for anyways? You'll get mugged." The man replied. "Luna, drop that accent, you're scaring people."
"Oh fine," the woman said reluctantly. "I'm Luna, and this is my cousin Vega. We're musicians, but it's not our only job, so it's more of a hobby."
Remiel nodded to them both and smiled. "Remiel. Nice to meet you."
"What brings you to Glorelia, Mr. Remiel?" Vega asked.
"You'd laugh."
"Go on, tell us." Luna pleaded.
"I want to be trained as a knight." Remiel said, wincing.
Luna and Vega looked at each other and grinned. "See? You're holding it back! I knew I shouldn't have said anything." Remiel sighed.
"Au contraire," Luna said. "Just amused. What country do you represent?"
"None."
Vega made a disapproving sigh. "It's a little harder to get vouched for that way," he said. "But if you've got friends on the inside, it's easy."
It was Remiel's turn to sigh. "Well I don't know anyone. In fact I just got in today."
Luna smiled faintly. "If I've learned anything from music, it's that you have to go for what you love, or you end up with nothing." She patted him on the shoulder and stood up. Vega stood as well and they grabbed their instruments. "We've got to get back, but it was so nice to meet you, and we'll be here every week, so let us know how things go, ok?"
Remiel smiled and watched the pair as they walked away. He felt in his bag for something he was suddenly desperate: a hat that had been given to him by Rytel. He looked at it for a moment and put it on his head, then laid down on a bench and looked at the sky. The lights from the street blocked out the stars, but he gazed into the night anyways.
This journey would be at least a year long and difficult, but he knew that returning as a new, stronger person would be worth it. A breeze rolled in and he curled up. That long night, he didn't fall asleep once.
***
Instead, he watched the silhouettes pass down the alleys and in the darkness, he thought he saw their faces. He made out her smile, his eyes, their forms and figures, but he knew that he was alone on this journey and that he'd have to make the effort to succeed before he'd ever return. He had been selfish in leaving, he knew it. Rytel and Monique would be struggling to get through the loss of Reise and the betrayal of Xavier. He knew he had left all of his friends behind, but he continued to tell himself that it was for the best. That he would be a stronger person who could help them save the world, and not the weak link who often had to sit on the sidelines. His pride had caused him to leave, and that was something he regretted... yet there was more to it than that. He promised that this new name would be one that he was proud of, someone who could bear the responsibility of bearing the element of Water.
He noted that Glorelia was a beautiful place to be lonely, and put these things out of his mind. He'd return, and no matter the reception he got when he came back, he knew that he'd make sure he was strong enough to survive on his own before he could be with his teammates again. The sun came up over the mountain, and Remiel watched the light pour over the valley, drowning the it with warmth and finally bathing the city of Glorelia.
***
Remiel stretched, glad for the warmth of a new day. He wanted to go back and see the bartender about getting those papers, but something told him fake papers wouldn't be the right way. He couldn't cheat his way to becoming a new person. He knew the only way to start this journey was to be honest with and about himself. He looked up at the Knight's Headquarters and became discouraged. When the bartender had said "up the hill," Remiel had not assumed that meant "up the mountain." Remiel saw but a speck in the distance, but it was the only building on the mountain. He looked at the road ahead of him, which went at a harsh angle.
"Time to walk," he sighed to himself as he began to walk up. He walked past white houses with wooden roofs, past many locals who could probably already tell this was his first time climbing the mountain. He had only been walking a few minutes, but living in the capital of Winter for so long had made his limbs weaker than they already were. He was not used to mountains, and this hike was a bit more than he was comfortable with. The worst part was he was only about a third of the way up the mountain to the building. He knew it could well be a waste of time, as well, but he continued his trip anyways. He had to pause at the halfway point. He couldn't breathe. His legs were sore. He hadn't been this worn out in a long time, and even then it was from using magicks, not from physically exerting himself. He looked around. There was a path here for carriages and horses at this point, but Remiel had put his mind into going by foot, and intended to continue that way.
He took one last deep breath and stood up again, continuing up the mountain. He passed farms and fewer homes as he got farther from the city, until there was only trees, tall pines which rose high above until Remiel could see nothing but the path he was on and the trees beside. He nearly collapsed, but told himself that this was his first proof of life. If he could do this, he would feel real. Not just a symbol, not just a series of names, but someone real. He deserved to get to the top of this mountain, and if he couldn't, he deserved nothing.
He caught his breath once more, thinking of Xavier. Xavier had been pretending to be his friend for almost a year, and then, it seemed, had suddenly turned on them. The worst was, looking back Remiel could see where Xavier had been planning. Where he had called in the enemies, where he had led them astray on purpose, how he had separated Remiel from the group to begin with. As much as Remiel hated Xavier after the betrayal, he had to admit that Xavier had been right about his being too weak to help the team. Remiel knew that as long as he stayed with Rytel, he'd never have to change, and to live he needed to change. Remiel finally decided that he would stop thinking about the consequences, that this was his path and he was on it, and he would see it through to the end. After several more minutes of walking, the path cleared up, the trees ended, and in a clearing Remiel saw the Knight's Headquarters: The Saint's Cross.
It was an enormous white building, with a large wooden entryway and grated windows, with bricks for edges and with flags from many different nations lined up outside. The mountain continued up, but Remiel had reached his goal and stopped to catch his breath one last time. His nerves were pulsing, his heart beat faster, and he had difficulty standing, but his goal was before his eyes. He pressed onward and knocked on the door, as his body grew heavier and heavier. His eyelids dropped, his head hit the door, his body dropped. Remiel fainted.
When he came to, he was in a bed with white sheets, and the smell of bread filled the air. He looked around; he was in a small room that resembled the barracks in the capital of Winter. He got up and walked to the door, reaching his head out. "Hello?" He called. Nobody answered, so he continued through a long hallway. Most of the doors were open, and the rooms looked identical to the one he had come out of. He reached the end of the hallway to find a staircase that went down three levels and again called. This time a man about his age popped his head into the stairwell
"Hey man, we were wondering when you'd wake up," said the young man. Remiel had never met him, but Jinosa had. This was Jiron, the cousin of the princess Caliste of Winter. "How you feeling, umm... Jinosa?"
"I'm sorry, I'm going by Remiel now." Remiel answered quickly, before anyone heard him called Jinosa.
Jiron had a puzzled look on his face, and he whispered "what, are you some kind of assassin or secret agent?"
"No, I just needed a fresh start." Remiel answered, completely averse to telling the whole story.
"Must be bad to need a new name. Whatever, I'm easy," Jiron shrugged. "Did you really hike up the mountain to get here?"
"Yeah." Remiel answered, puzzled. "Was that wrong?"
"It was a little unorthodox, but not wrong. In fact, it was a bit impressive. If you hadn't fainted it would have looked really good." Jiron said, snickering. "But what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be a mage? You do know this is a training grounds for KNIGHTS, right?"
"Yeah, I know. I'm really starting over." Remiel said, laughing.
"Oh, before I forget, your interview for training is in an hour. It'd probably look better if you straightened yourself up a bit. There are some clothes in the chest by your bed, we had to guess your size." Jiron said. He showed Remiel on the second floor the entrance to where his interview would be, and assured him that he'd do fine. With that, Remiel headed back to his room to change.
Remiel opened the drawer which held his change of clothes. There was a blue silk tunic with a large golden cross that covered most of the front, and a pair of soft, white pants with a white belt. He tried them on and they indeed fit. He looked at himself in the mirror and smiled. He felt like he was already a big step on his way to earning his new name. He took a deep breath before heading downstairs.
At the second floor, Remiel came to the door where he was supposed to have his meeting, and stopped. If the people inside this door denied him entry into training, there was no contingency plan. This had been the one chance he would have to change himself, and it rested completely on whether or not the people in the room before him decided he was worthy. Remiel let up a small prayer and pressed hard on the door.
It took more courage to open it than Remiel had words for. To place his future in the hands of complete strangers was the last thing he wanted to do, but now was not the time for cowardice. He pushed them open and walked through. The room he found himself in was a rather large room with three large tables in a "u" shape, and across from that was a large amphitheater style seating area arranged so that upon entering the room a person would be in the midst of all those seated. There were four people seated at each table, with five nearly Remiel's age, five appeared to be in their late thirties, and an elderly man and woman seated in the middle of the table directly facing him. Remiel assumed them to be the head knights. He also saw that among the few people in the amphitheater seating was not only Jiron, but also Vega and Luna. He did his best not to smile at them, doing his best to look knightly. He caught a glance of Luna straightening her shoulders, motioning for him to stand up straight. Vega was seated next to her and winked. Remiel gathered courage from these small gestures and looked toward those seated at the tables. "Name?" Asked the elderly knight.
"Remiel Delacroix," he answered.
"And your papers?" The knight asked. Remiel's heart sank. He thought about the bartender's offer to get him new papers, but he had made a choice and now he had to stick with it.
"I have none." Remiel answered. A woman from the back of the amphitheater stood and came forward to stand before Remiel.
"I'd like to vouch for Monsieur Delacroix. 3rd Rank Knight Relena," She said. "I had come to make sure he didn't cheat his way into the knighthood, but now I will stand beside his character. Yves the bartender had offered this boy false documentation, which he has clearly denied."
"That's..." the old knight began.
"Beyond that, his climbing of the mountain is a good indicator of perseverance."
"Well, his character is one thing, but his identity is quite another." The elderly knight responded. "Unless there is someone who can attest to his identity, I will have to dismiss him immediately."
Jiron stood. "I will stand for this man. Though I know him by another name, I have fought alongside him in the country of Winter when he served with my division." He said calmly.
"Lord Jiron, you know that standing for another man or woman in this council means that their actions reflect on your admission into the council, correct?" The knight said.
"Yes, Lord Gabriel. I take responsibility for his actions."
"And you swear this before the council?"
"I swear."
"And you, 3rd Rank Relena?"
"I do." Relena answered.
Remiel felt suddenly very bittersweet. He had set out to stand on his own, and yet here he was already relying on others to forge a path for him. He tried not to let the disappointment show as he continued to look at Lord Gabriel. A smile played upon the old man's face. "Well, it seems that we shall accept you into our training program. Bienvenue, welcome."
Remiel saluted, though he wasn't sure why. It seemed the right thing to do. Lord Gabriel saluted him as well, and dismissed him. He walked towards the door and exited into the hallway. He headed back up the stairs and sat on his bed, not really believing it had been that easy.
Jiron walked in and knocked on the open door. Remiel turned and smiled. "Thank you for vouching for me, Jiron," he said. Jiron shook his head.
"From now on, you should probably call me Lord Jiron, at least in public. Knights are supposed to follow a certain code, and you should probably get a start now. Also, what I did can be taken two ways. If you are deceitful or do anything to get kicked out of this program, you will be killed and I will be imprisoned along with Lady Relena. However, if you should make it into the knighthood, our positions will be strengthened. Don't let us down, ok?"
"I understand, m'lord."
"Lady Relena would probably say the same thing if you thanked her. If you want to show us your appreciation, do your absolute best."
"Yes, m'lord."
Jiron smiled and put his hand on Remiel's shoulder. "You can do this. You'll make a fine knight." He placed something in Remiel's hand and walked out of the room, leaving Remiel alone to think about things.
Remiel opened his hand to see a small badge with a white, silver-winged cross. He laid back onto the bed and turned the badge over in his hand. He was on his way to becoming a knight.
***
"Get up, man!" Came a voice from outside the room. Remiel's eyes shot open and he realized that it was morning. Jiron stood in the doorway, his short brown hair gave him a look of youthfulness and his silver armor made him look at the same time professional. The longsword tied to his back told Remiel what he had already learned as Jinosa, however. Jiron was a force to be reckoned with, duke or no. The badge Jiron had given him was in his hand still, and he placed it in the dresser by his bed. He remembered changing out of his nicer clothes, but he didn't remember falling asleep.
"Thanks Lord Jiron," He said as he jumped out of bed and gathered his things to take a bath. While he was doing so he glanced out the window and fell in love with the view almost immediately. The mountains surrounding Royaume de Chevalier were his horizon, though the clouds and a light fog blocked much of their peaks. The sun shone brightly on Glorelia and Saint's Cross, however. The blue sky was bright and cheerful, and Remiel had a good feeling about the rest of the day.
After taking a hot bath and making himself presentable, Remiel headed down for breakfast on the first floor. He followed Jiron to a room with several tables with about thirty people seated and already eating. Jiron got in the line to grab some food, and Remiel followed behind him, grabbing an apple and some bread along with a slice of cheese. He almost complained about the food rations until he noticed that Jiron, who was a small step away from being royalty, was eating the same food. Thinking it just one more thing that would make him stronger, Remiel ate the food slowly while he listened to the conversations that filled the air.
Some of the people were talking about how to properly parry and thrust, some about etiquette, and some about more personal things, but to Remiel it all seemed like a foreign language. He felt very out of place with all these people who knew exactly what it was to be a knight, whose dreams were just to be knights, while to Remiel it was just a means to an end.
Conversations never seemed to be this hard before... but Remiel knew he had to put that out of his head. Whatever things had been like before, he was in another place. Another time. He had to come to terms with the present first.
When he had finished, Jiron stood and told Remiel to follow him. They made their way out of the eating area into the courtyard, where many other people were standing. Remiel caught a glimpse of Lady Relena in full pink armor, with her dark hair braided to the sides and a broadsword attached to her hip. Among the crowd were also a bald-headed Vega, whose dark skin contrasted with his silver armor, and his serious face made Remiel wonder if he was the same person he met singing on the side of the road in Glorelia. For that matter, Luna looked much more serious as well, though she wore the same clothes as Remiel. When she was ready to work, Remiel noticed something very familiar, a crescent moon tied into her hair. It was the same as Reise. Remiel made a mental note to ask Luna about that later.
Lord Gabriel walked out to face all those gathered at once. "To attention!" He said, projecting his voice. Everyone stood at attention and awaited orders. "Today you will be tested by our full-fledged knights and be ranked according to your knowledge as well as your skill."
The would-be knights were divided up among the ranked knights, of which there were nearly twenty. As it turned out, each ranked knight ended up with four unranked hopefuls. Remiel was put into a group with a blonde haired young man, a girl with shoulder length dark hair and olive skin, and a curly brown haired boy. Their proctor was a green armored woman with short hair that flipped out at the bottom. She was very slim and had characteristics of no nation Remiel had ever been to before. Her eyes were shaped differently, her mouth was smaller, and she had lightly tanned skin. "Goot morning, I am Perrine, I will be your proctor. I am ferry pleased to meet chu, and I 'ope zat you will all do well."
She turned to the blonde and asked for his name. "Guy." He answered. "Pleased to meet ya." A young man brought five practice swords from the armory and distributed them to the four trainees and the knight.
"Well, Guy, let's see what you know." Perrine said as she held her practice sword in a defensive position. With that, Guy sped around to her back, forcing her to change her position. He thrust at her and forced her to block. He swung at her again and again, each time she blocked. He leapt into the air and tried to come at her, but she parried his blow and forced him to the ground. Perrine went to claim victory, but Guy rolled to his feet and was ready to go again. His hand glowed and Remiel knew that he was calling upon magic to help him fight. Guy thrust his hand downward and the ground beneath Perrine turned soft and swallowed her ankles. "Enough." Perrine said. "You'll be in zee Advanced training group."
"You." Perrine said, turning to the curly haired boy. "Name."
"Gorno, m'lady." He said.
"Eef you would, please."
Gorno nodded, hand shaking. He walked slowly towards Perrine and stopped, appearing to be assessing the situation. Perrine rolled her eyes and made the first move. As soon as her blade was in the air, Gorno dropped his sword.
"Fail." Perrine said flatly. "I am sorry, but eet eez not knightly to seemply geev up like zat."
Gorno left the grounds, and Remiel looked at the girl who was left with him.
"And you, meess? Would you care to go next?" Perrine asked, smiling.
The girl took a breath and nodded. "Jade is my name." She said.
As Perrine took the defensive position, Jade walked toward her and slowly attempted to swing her blade. Perrine blocked it and swept Jade's feet out from under her. "Beegeener." Perrine said, finally turning to Remiel.
Remiel was shocked at how quickly Perrine had dispatched Jade, but stepped forward.
"Remiel." He said. He was nervous, because he had never learned to use a blade, only watched Rytel and Dratanis. He gripped the blade and tried to rush Perrine. She used her blade to push him to the side. He turned quickly and slashed again, but she blocked it. Perrine went on the offensive, swinging her blade deftly at Remiel. He had enough instinct to block but she finally hit him. "You are 'olding back." She said.
"I've never used a blade before." Remiel responded.
"Then try something else."
"I'm here to learn to fight without magic," Remiel said. "Using it right now would be cheating myself."
Perrine smiled. "Eentermediate. Eet's funny, I 'ad one of each level."
Remiel looked at the other trainees in his group. Gorno had left, Jade was in beginner, and Guy ended up in advanced. It was true. Looking around, he could see that most of the other groups had finished as well, though many trainees were sprawled out on the ground or leaving the courtyard. He looked over at Luna, who was still waiting to be tested. She told the proctor, Lord Jiron, her name and began. Dashing at him, she raised her sword. When he was about to block, she made a dash for his other side. Jiron quickly switched the hand that his blade was in and blocked from there. His block forced the blade out of Luna's hand, and she ducked behind him, determined to win. Jiron lowered his blade and spun quickly around, knocking her back. "Excellent." He said. "I'm not sure whether to put you in advanced or intermediate."
"If you would, I'd rather be in intermediate. I'd like to learn as much as I can." Luna replied. She turned towards Remiel and smiled broadly. He was a bit taken aback, but listened as Jiron gave her the official intermediate level.
As Remiel helped pick up practice swords, Luna came up to him. "I saw your fight." She said quietly.
"Oh yeah, I'm not very good."
"Lady Perrine didn't seem to think so."
"Well, I don't know why not."
Luna cleared her throat. "I know you were holding it in from the start. I can sense a person's heart, and if you just do your part... your heart yearns for you to let things go, to let your potential show, but you're afraid to know what you can do if you let it glow." She looked at him and breathed deeply. "Please just be yourself."
"What was that?" Remiel asked, suprised.
"I have a poet's soul and a woman's intuition. It breaks me to see someone with a heart like yours go to waste."
Remiel was stunned. He looked at Luna, whose eyes were full of sincerity. "And what if I'm looking for who I am?"
She smiled at him and took his hand. "You already know who you are. You just gotta learn to love it. You came to this place to prove your existence, but that's the true test of a man."
Remiel stood there, stunned. "I'm going to go, Remiel, but you listen to my words. You gotta love who you are now, not change to be who you're gonna love." Luna said before walking away from the courtyard.
