[ it's a normal day when you rise early to see sazantos off.

the reports came in by raven a few days ago from king richard - the final ring of the eight rings of the gods has finally been taken back from its monstrously powerful master, the empress tatloch, courtesy of the ringbearer chosen, and her majesty queen alaune. the most important duty of the flameguard - to gather the rings and save them from evil hands - is ready to be performed. the forces of the continent united together against the evil designs of many, and even you had a part in it.

you've spent the past week or so closely monitoring the flameguard, sazantos, even if he waves you off and grumbles about it. after all, the two of you assisted in returning the rings back, retrieving the ring of dohter the charitable after a betrayal within the church where ceraphina revealed herself to have her hands on the accursed flame, the dark opposite of the sacred flame, powered by a false god. the fight with ceraphina was incredibly difficult, and worse, you know sazantos was injured in it - even though he bounced back with aplomb, something was off.

truthfully, you aren't surprised he bounced back, because sir sazantos is and always has been the most amazing, talented knight you've ever had the pleasure to know. he's the flameguard, the paragon of goodness and righteousness, and to you, rondo ravus, sazantos is your everything.

whether he remembers it or not, he saved your life, once upon a time, and it set the course of your future. it was his words - you've got the makings of the flame in you that struck you to your core when you first met him, thirteen years old and desperately trying to defend your sister from bandits that attacked your house. you swore to get stronger, to be like him, to learn from him, and he accepted you as his apprentice - as his future successor. every word of his praise, his recognition, sparing as they are, is what you live for. the beauty of his azure sacred flame struck your heart and soul when you first met him. you've probably been in love with him, though you're only distantly aware of that fact, since first sight.

sazantos is everything you want to be, and your entire world revolves around him, nowadays. so seeing him hurt that badly - and you have never seen him hurt that badly - terrified you. but, he patched himself up, and now you stand at the frosty doors of the cathedral in flamesgrace, trying not to yawn lest you are scolded for it, the sun peeking over the edge of the mountains as sazantos prepares to leave at dawn. it was your choice to get up this early to see him off, ever the dutiful right hand.

sazantos glances back at you as he's strapping his sword to his belt, and you smile at him and wish him a safe trip. he's heading to the isle of orsa to oversee the sealing of the eight rings of power along with the others, and there's no need for you to be there. sazantos, guardian of the continent, guardian of the light, is more than enough.

there's a moment where he regards you, a long pause. instinctively, you straighten a little bit under his gaze like you have done for the past ten years, like you are being scrutinized. you wonder what he sees. you wonder what else to say. what he'll say.

and in the end, he says nothing at all - sazantos turns around and heads off into the sunrise, and you finally release the yawn you were holding the entire time and shuffle back inside for some well earned sleep before your morning training begins.

--

by the time you rise again and perform your usual morning routine - swordsmanship practice, physical training - you receive a summons from a harried looking messenger to hurry to the cathedral at once. that's not that unusual, but it usually just means a mission, so you strap your sword to your side and jog into the cathedral.

awaiting you is the pontiff and captain hugo, the leader of the knights ardante, and they both look - grim. the pontiff holds a paper in his hands. ]

... Sirs? [ you say, after you bow - hand to your heart, low to the ground, traditional and polite as always. but there's something rising in your gut that feels ominous and you stare down at the carpet for a long moment before you rise to a fully standing position. you feel your heart still pounding, underneath your glove.

"...Rondo." says the captain, waving off your gesture. he looks uneasily to the pontiff, who bows his head.

"Rondo. I would like to make for Castle Edoras with the utmost haste." the pontiff tells you, in his gentle voice, as kind and serving as he always is, but the more you stare at him, the more you can see something etched into the lines of his wizened face. and it's not just him, it's the captain, too they both look - you don't even know how to describe it, but something is wrong. ]

... Of course, sir. May I ask what the mission entails...? [ you murmur, looking between the captain and the pontiff, brows knitting together in worry, clueles.

the pontiff closes his eyes briefly before he regards you. he takes a deep breath, in and out.

"...There has been an incident. Upon the imminent sealing of the eight rings of power at the Isle of Orsa, we have been informed that the pinky finger of the Ring Maidens murdered the other fingers of the hand. Additionally, the sealing of the eight rings was attended to by Finis, Father of All, and Finis - " there's a pause, here. his holiness looks at you, and there's something so, so sad in his wise eyes as he continues, "Finis was killed by Sazantos, who summoned the Accursed Flame, and stole the rings. The report dictates that he and Signa opened a portal likely to Hell, and have declared their intentions to destroy humanity as we know it."

the words slam into you like a ton of bricks.

you stare at the pontiff, at hugo, dumbly. all thoughts of politeness and manners are forgotten as the sum total of every part of his report comes together, piece by piece in your head.

sazantos. sazantos, your mentor, your teacher, your entire world, the paragon of goodness and protection, the paragon of personhood, the protector of the rings and guardian of the continent, the strongest person you've ever known, the person who could summon the purest, bluest sacred flame you have ever seen - sazantos betrayed them?

your heart stops. you think the world around you stops, too.

the pontiff says, softly, "...I'm sorry, Rondo."

you barely hear it.

you think - you think, you have to be dreaming. you think this has to be some sort of horrible nightmare, that if you just pinch yourself, you'll startle awake, that sazantos will be staring ominously over you, disapproving that you've slept in thirty seconds too late, that everything is normal and this is just a horrific, awful dream. you think, somewhat hysterically, that your knees must be giving out.

you realize, a second later, that your knees are giving out, because hugo is there to catch you before you hit the ground. you clutch onto his arms, the sensation of being dazed giving way to a dam breaking, as your vision goes blurry and your breath hitches and you start to sob.

it's not on purpose. you can't even stop yourself - you can't hold it together in front of the pontiff, you can't hold it together in front of your captain, as your entire world comes crashing down around your ears.

--

you make your way out of the cathedral in a daze, tasked with your new mission, and for a long moment, you lift your head and stare up at the snowy skies. edoras is a long ride away, and you need to get going - find a horse, get saddled up and rush as fast as you can make it to the side of queen alaune and king richard, but standing here makes you remember.

you have had thousands of conversations with sazantos right here, in front of these cathedral doors. you have seen him summon up his flame - the purest, blazing blue in the world - a thousand times. you have seen him use it to vanquish evil, use it to banish ceraphina's shadow from the world, used it to protect you, not once, but twice. your entire life has been about following his greatness - about becoming like him, about living up to the words he told you once.

you've got the makings of the flame in you, he had said to you, when you were just thirteen years old.

and now sazantos' flame was gone. ]



[ by the time you make it to edoras, you are invited into the throne room by the queen's retainer, and you find yourself standing among some of the greatest heroes of the continent. the king of riven, the king of altinia, the queen of edoras, the lord of grandport. there's a man you don't recognize, and the ringbearer chosen, who looks worried, and finally - there's rinyuu, a very familiar face, a cleric of the church. she looks heartbroken, her expression crumpling when she sees you before she smooths it over. it makes you want to cry, too, because you know - you know she has to understand.

(she loved sazantos too, you know. he helped save her life barely a month ago, and you did too. you've eaten her delicious meals together, you've prayed together. and rinyuu - rinyuu is the kindest person in the entire world. she might be the only person in this room whose heart hurts the same way yours does.)

the rest of the group greets you warmly. alaune invites you to join them, as one of the guardians of light - an honor that should feel world-changing feels so hollow, now, knowing the place that you are taking, knowing who used to stand there. she lists her reasons: that you're pure of heart, that you've gone so far as to help gather the rings back despite all dangers. and that you're familiar with the enemy. it should make you feel proud. praised. worthy.

you just feel empty.

you look down at your hands. ]

I... am still struggling to come to terms with what this 'enemy' [ because you can't - you still can't call him that. you don't know if you ever could. it has to be a misunderstanding. a mistake. the phrase enemy feels like bile in your mouth. you swallow around a lump in your throat and continue. ] - has done. He was my teacher, and...

[ you think of him looking at you when you dispatched the bandits on the road to the garrison. you think of the approval in his bright blue eyes.

"There it is... what I saw in you when we first met. That same spark lights your eyes once more."

you think of him looking on when you were anointed. you think of the unmatched, unbridled joy you felt when sazantos finally, finally accepted you as his apprentice. not because you asked, but because you earned it.

"I expect great things of you, Rondo."

you swallow. ]

... and someone very dear to me.

[ sazantos' strong back, his azure flame, rescuing you from certain death when you were young, has always been in front of you. his vicious training methods have made you strong, have helped you grow as a knight, as a person. he denied you to be his apprentice but beckoned you to challenge him anyway, expected that you could rise to his greatness, saw the strength in you that you so desperately wanted to have. his cool expression, his calm demeanor, his overwhelmingly admirable strength, the way he protects the weak and the sick. his aloof tendencies, his sharp tongue, his occasionally over-dramatic monologue - you even love those - his pure, pure blue sacred flame.

you exhale.

and you clutch one hand over your heart, and you leap the mental hurdle and say with force, with passion - ] And, that is the very reason I must humbly accept your offer. I am a Knight Ardante, and as such, it is my duty to keep watch over the Sacred Flame, no matter where it leads.

[ and in this case, that it might lead to hell is no exaggeration. you're brimming with this overwhelming feeling, with duty and necessity and grief and the desire to understand. to influence, maybe. to help.

the group agrees to research some of the scholarship around the gates to hell, and you volunteer to go with king solon, immediately. you want to stop him, to save the world, of course. but selfishly, you have to know what changed him.

you have to. so, as the guardian of light, the not-quite-the-flameguard, you join the crusade to stop sazantos once and for all. ]