so we can get to know you

by Lucathia

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Sun Knight and make no profit from writing this.

Summary: The Twelve Holy Knights go on their biannual mission outside of Leaf Bud City. They just never thought that some of them would return as toddlers. Roland introduces himself over and over again. "Isn't this great, Roland? We'll get to learn about you and make up for all those years we missed!"

Notes: Written for Kiyutsuna for Parallels 2014! There will be 10 chapters in all. Never fear. It won't impact my other writing, as this is actually a completed longfic. (omg what is this miracle) Concept based off of how deaging works in Kokoro Connect. Here's my obligatory(?) deaging fic. XD; (I've got bodyswap down, dimensional traveling, genderbending, reincarnation... /slowly going through ALL the tropes *nods*) Think of this as a love letter to Roland. XD;;; Set post-canon. Vague spoilers? You might be able to guess at what happens in canon, but I don't explain anything. The most spoilerish is chapter 1 and 10, so you could possibly skip those two, though the fic might not make much sense without reading these two chapters, haha. The fic is more focused on Roland than on the cute deaged knights, but there are plenty of cute antics too. Will be posting this weekly!

chapter 1: R-un, little knights

Far away from Leaf Bud City, the twelve of us got ready for battle from within the depths of a seemingly never-ending land of darkness. Dark element had overtaken this once colorful forest rumored to be home to pixies. The dark element swirled around us, eager to be spent. I straightened and let my disguise fall away, wings unfurling behind me, skin growing ashen. Sun likewise removed the Eternal Tranquility, handing it to Judgment, and let his hair bleed into black. The ten others took several steps back, giving us our space but not departing so far that they would not be able to rush in to attempt to subdue us.

Hand on my sword, I exchanged a glance with Grisia, his dark pools of black challenging me. A smirk played at his lips. He taunted me, beckoning me with a curl of his index finger.

Then, the two of us flew into battle, as we each summoned the dark element to complement our every attack. Ever since my death, I had stopped feeling the thrum of adrenaline, of blood pumping through my body, burning with intensity, but this might be something close to it. The dark element whirled through me, filling me with power. I could easily be drunk off of it, but I wouldn't let myself. Never again.

By the sound of Grisia's maniacal laughter, it was possible that he was getting close to losing himself. He was absorbing much more of the dark element than I was. I had not lost myself to the point of being unable to notice the grim looks of those watching us in trepidation.

Focus, Roland, I told myself. Focus on your duty.

I unleashed the dark element over and over. Grisia smirked and levitated himself into the air, high above the swaying tree tops. He held his hands out, dark element curling around him.

"Don't let him out of your sight!" Storm called out to me.

I nodded and pumped my wings, flying straight up to where Grisia was, wind rushing past my face. I would not permit myself to be lost in the intensity of the battle, swallowed by the dark element, but that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy a good fight, of having a reason to continue existing.

In midair, we continued our battle.

After a lengthy period of time, Grisia suddenly laughed under the dark sky blackened by the dark element, wide grin stretching across his face. "How about this?" Nearly all of the dark element from the forest seemed to gather around Grisia as he spoke. For a second, I caught a glimpse of what the forest must have looked like in the past, vibrant and youthful.

Alive.

Not marred by darkness.

"Sun-"

Before I could stop him, he blasted the dark element at me. I swung my blade at it with no intention of dodging. The onslaught of dark element parted, hitting the trees below.

An explosion followed.

Dust burst forth.

Even Grisia and I became covered in dust despite being so high up. Without a second thought, I immediately flew downward to check if everyone was okay, the dust trickling away into the air as the wind cleansed me. However, before I even reached the others, Grisia tossed a gigantic dark blade at my back, catching me unaware. It sliced me across my wings.

Pain flaring, I tumbled downward, branches whipping across my face.

"What..."

I twisted to look back at Grisia. The proximity of the others should have kept Grisia in check, enough for him to retain his sense of self. Has the seal worn off?

"Hell!" came a cry from below.

I untangled myself from the branches and dropped the rest of the distance to the ground. There, amidst the foliage, were the rest of the Twelve Holy Knights.

At least, that was who was supposed to be there. It was just that Blaze was now a baby, and Ice, Metal, and Leaf were also much shorter than before. All of their clothes were nearly falling off. The three of them stared at me in alarm.

Although I wanted to ask what had happened, I instead said, "Sun has lost control."

Frowning, Judgment lifted baby Blaze from his bundle of clothes and stared at his unblemished chest. Blaze giggled and kicked at Judgment.

Immediately, young Metal shouted out at Judgment, "What do you think you're doing!"

Both Ice and Leaf seemed like they were thinking the same thing, their faces even more alarmed than when they had seen me.

"Their tattoos are likely all gone," Judgment concluded.

No wonder Grisia had lost control. Without all of us as his fetters, it was impossible to keep him in check.

"Go use the teleportation circle and head to safety," I suggested. "I'll hold him back."

Judgment nodded grimly as he handed the Eternal Tranquility to me. Cloud had appeared out of nowhere to hold mini Blaze in his arms, wrapping him in his fallen clothes, and now Blaze was pulling on Cloud's bangs with his chubby hands and climbing all over him. Likely if Leaf had not shrunk, he would be the one holding Blaze instead. Stone steered a confused Ice in the right direction, Moon grabbed Metal's hand despite the latter's protests, and Storm urged Leaf along.

Have their memories reverted back to that age too? If so, then my appearance must really frighten them.

I did not have the leisure to ponder for long. Grisia flew down, the dark element suddenly increasing behind me. I turned and stretched my three pairs of wings out, ignoring the searing pain, trying to buy the others time to escape. I flew forward and attacked, but Grisia dodged and laughed instead.

"What have we here?" Grisia said in a mocking tone. "Since when has Metal been that short? Pft, look at him stumble!"

I readied my blade. Berating Grisia when he was in this state would be useless. All I could do was prevent him from doing anything he would regret. "That's nothing to concern yourself with at the moment. Come, fight me."

I almost lost my focus when Grisia blasted dark element down at the others. I quickly closed in on Grisia, forcing his attack off their path.

"Fight me!" I growled.

"I don't want to!" Grisia complained. "You're so boring!"

I swung my blade at him in a flurry of attacks, leaving Grisia no time to keep speaking. In such a way, I kept him on his toes, his attention drawn away from the retreating Twelve Holy Knights. Once I saw the flare of light indicating that the teleportation circle had been activated, I finally relaxed.

Even when Grisia's next attack hit me, I was no longer as worried. Slowly, I closed in on him again, not caring even when my skin ripped from his attacks. Then, I teleported the rest of the distance in a flash and grabbed him.

"What do you think you're-"

The scenery around us changed, dissolving into a courtyard of the Holy Temple.

"...doing."

With Grisia back in Leaf Bud City, his powers could be sealed once more without the need of all Twelve Holy Knights being present. I quickly circled the chain of the Eternal Tranquility around his neck.

I looked towards the Holy Temple.

But what exactly happened with Blaze and the others?

to be continued

A/N: Since Kiyu's request was "After a mission gone wrong/ mishap with magic. One of the Twelve Holy Knights got turned into a _ (ex. Toddler, animal... Etc) Something fluffy and funny please!" I started the fic off with a mission. This was the first mission that came to mind. :'D After rereading the prompt, I realize it wasn't like I needed all twelve of them present at the mission... ANYWAY.

Whether this fic is fluffy and funny is hard to say... Maybe... but not really? Well, hopefully it's somewhat cute among all the introspection!