A beautiful young man was sitting in a dark, luxurious chair. He looked as if he was supposed to be in a marble palace. He had jade skin, abyss-like eyes, raven-black hair, and dark clothes that seemed to absorb the light around him.
This young man was sunless, a man whom everyone in existence had forgotten. He was sitting on the porch of a humble-looking cottage, seemingly debating something.
Sunny had thought he had spent more than enough time away from humanity after being forgotten; he knew his goals now. He just had to figure out where to go and become a permanent resident, perhaps Bastion?
After all, he had been residing there for the past few months, trying to 'lay low' with his assistant Aiko. He used those words loosely because he served customers here and there at the brilliant emporium, but he had already made a name for himself, well, more like the people who showed up did "the eye candy cafe," is what they called it
. He had often thought about going into the Bastion in hopes of seeing her; maybe he could now; she was supposed to return today from a mission.
'No, no, I need to get away from Nephis'
He had steadily gotten over his love for her after that goddamn bird stole his fate. He had also slowly realized that she would hold no love in her heart, for she was too obsessed with her goal of destroying the nightmare spell. But of course, he would still be there for her as the lord of shadows, just not in a romantic way, so he had concluded that he needed to set his sights somewhere else entirely, and he had just the place in mind, but that didn't mean he wanted to go there!
After all, that eerie bastard Mordred was there; of course, the place he was talking about was Raven Heart, formerly known as the Jade Palace. It was a creation of the demon of dread, Ariel, and where a piece of the weavers' lineage was. It was also where Queen Song and her daughters lived.
'Yes, it could work, so long as I keep my head down and don't attract unwanted attention from any of the sisters, I should be able to live there just fine. Oh goddamnit! Who am I kidding?! I'm going to get plenty of attention with this damn face of mine!'
Why did he have to be? What did Effie say to him once? 'A pretty boy'? Yeah! Why did he have to be such a pretty boy? It would come back to bite him one of these days, this face of his. Ah, whatever, he was getting distracted.
Another positive was that he could also help his other incarnation look after Rain whenever she wasn't training with her 'teacher'! It was settled then that he would live in the raven heart—well, this body of his would, at least.
He reached into his pocket, took out a coin of noctis, and stared at it, then looked at gloomy. "Ship for staying in Bastion, Noctis for going to Raven Heart," Sunny said as he flipped the coin into the air and watched it land on the porch. It landed on the ship.
Frowning at the outcome, he flipped it over to the side of Noctis and smiled brightly. "Well, it's settled then! We're moving to Raven Heart. What? Don't look at me like that!" Sunny said, his sullen shadow staring at him with disappointment radiating.
As Sunny was being judged by his shadow, he didn't notice someone approaching him until they cleared their throat.
When it rains, it pours.
Silver hair, calm gray eyes, and an ever-present aloof expression on her face. Nephis stood before him, staring at the coin with curiosity. He had met her through Cassie's intervention, and she had been coming here for the past three months.
Sunny kept their interactions to a minimum, knowing that if he stayed any longer around her, it would stir up old feelings and reignite a dying flame he was desperately trying to snuff out. Unfortunately, it seemed the princess had already developed a crush on him.
"Oh, Lady Nephis, I didn't see you there," Sunny said, standing up and bowing to her before straightening with a smile. One that she returned.
"Master Sunless, hello again. What are you doing?" Nephis asked in a disinterested tone, though it was obvious to Sunny that she was curious.
"Flipping a coin for myself, I'm taking a trip somewhere. I want to expand my business!" Sunny said with a polite smile.
It was technically the truth; he was expanding his business to Raven Heart and only Raven Heart from now on, but she didn't need to know.
"I hope Effie didn't scare you off to somewhere else. I will deal with that woman someday," Nephis said with a sigh.
"No, no. Not at all! I just wanted a change in scenery for a bit, that's all. Well, I have to get going, but I can still be open for a bit if you want to order something." Sunny forced a smile, hoping that she would decline.
"I would like that," Neph smiled at him.
Damnation!
A few hours later, after his encounter with Nephis, he was wearing the nebulous mantle and a polite smile on his beautiful face. He walked up to the two women who had woken up and were guarding the entrance and smiled brightly.
"Greetings! I am called Master Sunless!" Sunny bowed to them and straightened.
The two young women, for whatever reason, seemed startled, and their cheeks were red as well.
Did they think he was a skinwalker?
Surely not! The two young women appeared to regain some of their composure; one of them stepped forward, took out a flower, and smiled back, an obvious blush still on her cheeks.
"Greetings, Master Sunless! Please hold this for a moment."
They handed the flower to the beautiful master before them, who took it and held it. They watched him tilt his head in confusion.
" Am I supposed to do something with this?" Sunny asked, feigning confusion.
One of the women shook her head, "No, nothing at all! It's just a security measure for the skinwalker."
Master Sunless nodded. "Ah! I see! My apologies; I feel quite silly now." he then let out a melodious chuckle, which made them sway a bit
"It's perfectly fine. It's your first time here, so it makes sense that you wouldn't know. I could give you a tour of Raven Heart if you'd like." She smiled sweetly
The young man shook his head, much to her dismay. " I wouldn't want to get you in trouble for leaving your post! Thank you, though!"
And with that, the beautiful young man walked through the gates with a polite smile on his gorgeous face.
Inside Raven Heart, people were going about their day, sparing more than a few glances at him. Sunny tried to ignore them and, when he couldn't, sent polite smiles their way. He could already feel that this was going to be quite the experience.
As he weaved through the hundreds of thousands of people, he stopped at a bakery and bought a few rolls for himself.
He looked around, specifically at the buildings; he was looking for a space to replicate and reopen his emporium to the public once more.
Eventually, his eyes landed on a space far enough from where the queen and her daughters resided not to raise any suspicion and close enough to civilization to look inconspicuous; it was perfect!
Aiko has really- I mean me, me! I've outdone myself with the spots I've chosen!
This was where he was going to put his Marvelous Mimic, and so he did. After a few days of being open, his first customer showed up. He had nearly dropped the plates he was carrying when he saw them walk in.