By Your Side | Aragami(Ryo) x Historian!Reader

Prologue

The first thing they could remember was waking up on a cold, rock-solid ground that froze their soul to the core. Body aching from head to toe, they could barely move. It took them nothing more than a few seconds to acknowledge the foreign air surrounding them,  reflexes kicking in immediately. Something is wrong.

Snapping their eyes open, the historian's instinct was to grasp at something — anything to prevent danger, ready for defense. Their hand rushed towards their hip, and a grunt was heard when there was no weapon to be found. Seen no options left, they use the same hand to lift themselves from the grayish floor. Now, while their knees touched the surface, a question suddenly arose between fuzzy thoughts.

"Where am I?"

There were tall golden pillars in line on both of their sides, plus a stunning chandelier far above that was made of the same material, worthy of royalty, which complemented the sophisticated yet dead palace. Followed by the pillars, a few platforms were hanged by the ceiling; most of them had fallen, leaving disruption across the ground.

Slowly lifting their weak body from the ground, they could smell how old that place was, — rust, as well as a subtle odor of rotten fruits, filled the ambient, — sneezing lightly, they finally stand up to their feet, better analyzing their surroundings. It was impossible not to let out a gasp as they catch a glimpse of a colossal statue of a fox with nine tails, whose paws rested on the sides of a stone throne as big as its size. Sunrise shined from behind the fox's tails, which could only be seen due to the destroyed wall behind the throne room, the upper half of it missing. 

They paced further into the room; every step echoed loudly despite their caution — it wasn't a surprise, in fact, the goofy historian had quite a reputation of tripping over the air; uncountable bruises covered their body; it was proof of their bad luck charm.

How they happen to be in these ruins was a mystery; one that they were too scared to think about, yet too anxious to ignore.

It took them a while to notice that there was something unusual just before the throne. In front of them, shone a golden sword — half of its blade fiercely shoved into the ground —, and a tiny, old rag doll, whose white hair tangled in braids, leaned peacefully against the golden weapon. 

As far as they knew, they had never heard of such a peculiar scene before, which was almost impossible.  They were the most passionate of their field, spending hours, days, months — their whole life even — studying the history of their land, and searching artifacts of its history. A sword displayed dramatically inside some ruins of an old temple? Perhaps if they were younger and more naïve, they'd think this was a calling for an exciting adventure. One where a hero would save the princess from a dangerous dragon. They always knew, however, that they'd probably die due to their clumsiness much before arriving at the fire monster.

However, what they knew, what they felt, was a strong energy coming from the sword — one that called to them the further they approached it — that could never be taught in books, neither told in myths. It danced inside their lungs, flowed inside their veins, and pulled strings between his thoughts. They barely noticed the inaudible voices impeding their thoughts to speak up; the divine details on the blade were too distracting, and so blinded their reasoning. 

Curiosity possessed their body, as it always did when it came to artifacts yet not discovered. It was the most magnificent sword they've ever seen. Although it seemed ancient, there was not a single vestige of rust, unlike what they smelt previously. Could they perhaps use it? The historian knew the weapon was untouched for at least a few years using little observation — if it was important, or even rare, wouldn't anyone try to search for it? An enthusiastic like them should at least have heard about a sword made of gold hidden inside of an abandoned palace of sorts.