The Demon Queen

The Sunrise Test (Part 2)

The time flew by exceptionally quickly as I changed into the white robe and had a cup of tea waiting for the night to end. Before I knew it, I was standing by one of the temple's back doors, Gyokko nervously standing by the wall with at least 8 water-filled pots on the floor beside him. Douma was smiling and reciting some prayers next to me, not seeming to be concerned of anything at all. I wondered if he was only doing his prayers with the intention of making Gyokko less nervous.

Either way, I wouldn't die if I ran back inside right away. It would just be painful if I started to burn, but nothing severe would happen.

I looked down at myself. My hands were shaking a little.

Why? I thought. Why am I so afraid?

"All right," Douma said after he finished his prayer. "You should be good to go now, Sakura-chan." He straightened out the robe on my shoulders.

Am I really afraid to burn, or am I ...

Douma patted me on the back. "You'll be fine!"

Am I actually afraid to be sun-resistant?

I nodded. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Sakura-sama, you can still turn back!" Gyokko said, his eyes filled with tears.

"I'm not turning back."

"She's not turning back," Douma said, almost simultaneously with me.

"But the sun is a deadly laser!" Gyokkko cried. "Sakura-sama, a burn mark will not be an artistic addition to your appearance! Please, don't be so reckless!"

Douma sighed. "He really does talk too much."

"Do you really think you're the one to say that, Douma?" I asked.

Douma laughed. "You're right! I'm quite the blabbermouth myself!" He winked at me. "And so are you right now, Sakura-chan. Stop stalling!" He went behind me and started to push me to the door. "Come on! Come on! Get out there already!"

"Don't handle Sakura-sama like that!"

Douma laughed. "Go out out out the door!"

"Quit it! Douma!" I yelled at him, but suddenly, I found myself pushed outside through the double doors and standing exposed to the break of day.

The sight of the brightness and colour coming into the sky pleasantly stunned me. It stared in wonder at the dark blue sky that was gradually becoming lighter. At the horizon, the colours mixed with the orange and yellow of the sun slowly rising.

I blinked my eyes multiple times. It was so beautiful. So bright, yet so beautiful. I had to put my hand to my brow to shield my eyes from the light they hadn't seen for close to 950 years. How could it be so soothing to see that light? It was a light that was dangerous to me, yet it illuminated everything, flooding the stimuli of my vision with colours and textures of nature I had long forgotten.

The grass really was very green. It glistened in a shining morning dew. The sky got bluer and bluer, until I could see the wispy, puffy white shapes in the sky called clouds. To see white clouds had become a non-existing phenomenon to me. It wasn't the same as seeing them as a dark grey at night. The material they were made out of looked so delicate and soft, and its texture was surprisingly complete and detailed when it wasn't dark.

I was smiling. I was smiling so much, so broadly that I could feel a strain in my cheeks. It was a joyful strain, a strain I could continue to feel for a very long time and not get annoyed with it. It became brighter outside that I had to squint my eyes a bit, but I didn't care. I was happy, so unbelievably happy, as the light shone more and more on the earth and embraced me in its warmth.

It was so warm. But I wasn't burning. I wasn't in any pain. And when I looked down at myself and the skin on my hands, everything was completely normal. My skin wasn't even becoming red.

I started to laugh. Tears of joy filled my eyes, even though I was somehow still in disbelief that everything I was experiencing was real. But it was real. From the sunlight to the view outside to the tears lightly rolling down my cheeks. It was all real.

I soon remembered Douma and Gyokko inside. Even though I felt fine, it would be best for me to step inside and tell them that I was all right. It wasn't as if they could look out through a window to check on me. They had to keep all natural light out of the temple and couldn't expose themselves to it.

I opened the door to step back inside. The huge smile that had spread over my face never left. I looked at Douma and Gyokko waiting inside for me.

"Douma! Gyokko!" I said in a gentle, uplifted tone. "I can go in the sun!"