"Where is it… where is it…"
Dust and ash crunched beneath Sunny's boots as he dug through the rubble, soot covering him from head to toe.
He was currently on Twisted Rock Island, having finally found the time to search for the device that opened the way to the Ebony Tower.
The task wasn't exactly physically demanding, but it was seriously bothering him. He'd already had to summon Weaver's Mask just to keep himself from inhaling the ash. It likely wasn't deadly to breathe in, but the constant coughing was something he really didn't want to deal with.
Standing up and dusting himself off, he sighed.
"Serpent, find anything?"
A deep hiss shook the air around him as the small island rumbled, the molten stone and ash parting to make way for a colossal serpent as it emerged from beneath the ground.
"Oh!"
Held within the maw of the serpent was a small cube, completely blackened from the ash. It was the safe he had once found within Sevras' residence, which had contained the device that activated the Ivory Tower's gate. Or at least, he hoped it was.
"Come on, come on, bring it here!"
Serpent shook its upper half, getting rid of the soot covering it before bending down and dropping the cube before him. Ignoring the cloud of ash now falling on top of him, Sunny bent down to take a closer look at it, brushing off the black dust covering it.
'Yes!'
Shifting his vision, he saw that it was indeed what he was looking for. Patterns of diamond strings and nexuses lay beneath the charred surface, with a particularly bright spot in the center of one of its faces.
'Let's see… Noctis said that it wouldn't open unless I had the Fire…'
Despite that, Sunny was pretty sure he was lying. He had a vague memory of Noctis saying something along the lines of only saying that to stop him from opening the safe.
And when he sent his essence into the bright spot, he was proven right. A line split the cube's face and the safe swung open a second later, causing ash to fly into his face. Waving it away in annoyance, he took a look inside.
'Oh?'
As the safe had been perfectly sealed from the elements outside, some of the things inside had actually survived!
Reaching inside, Sunny carefully grabbed-
"Ah."
The items within crumbled in an instant, time having caught up to them.
"Aw."
He pulled his arm back in mild disappointment. Although he doubted he'd find anything amazing, he was still curious to see what could've been there.
Sighing, he reached in once more to find the small device hidden at the back, only to pause as his wrist brushed against something.
'Hm?'
Something had actually survived?
Grabbing the stray object, he pulled it out to get a better look at it.
His gaze immediately grew distant as he sighed bitterly.
The small item that had managed to survive for thousands upon thousands of years was a small picture, printed on what seemed to be a magical parchment.
Sunny looked at the worn film, his grip on it weak. It was a picture of Sevras and Semos standing together smiling, with both of them dressed in what seemed like white priest robes as the sun shone brightly in the background. It was a photo of them from their youth.
He'd never been fond of the twin rulers, but that didn't mean he hated them either. Their deaths in the Nightmare had been more brutal than they had to be. Of course, he didn't regret it, but seeing a picture of the two of them as innocent youths… it didn't feel nice.
Storing the picture within the Coffer, he bent down and picked up the ivory apparatus as well, tossing it in the Coffer as well. Burying the safe in the crumbling stone once more, he left.
…A couple hours later, he returned to the Sanctuary of Noctis.
After greeting a couple familiar faces and giving Roan a report of the surrounding area, he went to his room. Shutting every door and making sure he was alone, he sat and began meditating as his shadows began roaming the Sanctuary.
Truthfully, he could've simply stepped straight to the Ivory Tower, as he had left one of his shadows there, but today he had a specific goal he wanted to achieve at the Sanctuary of Noctis. It had been a couple weeks since his Nightmare now, and he didn't want to put it off any longer.
His shadow crept up on a couple Awakened who were standing atop a watchtower, keeping watch of the surrounding islands just in case. Hiding within a dark corner, the haughty shadow listened to their conversation.
"...new show that's been airing lately. Man, that main actress is something! Have you watched it?"
"Not yet. I've actually been busy. Unlike you."
"What?! Hey, you know I…"
'Nope.'
Shaking its head, the haughty shadow left, finding their conversation useless.
Across the Sanctuary, the crazy shadow remained near a two women moving supplies, eavesdropping.
"...thing new with your husband?"
"Nothing at all."
"Are you sure, you seem upset about…"
"It's nothing!"
'Useless.'
The crazy shadow left a moment later.
The crazy, haughty, and haughty shadows circled the island, listening in on conversations. The majority of what they heard was completely useless, but that was to be expected. The topic he was looking for didn't seem to be talked about much, as it was a sad and strange thing.
Of course, he was trying to find people talking about the new kid who had anchored here not too long ago. The Awakened known as Mordret. For someone to awaken at such a young age, something strange or terrible had to have happened. He'd half expected it to be a hot topic, but he seemed to be wrong.
'Maybe they're just over it now? It's been over a month since the solstice after all…'
Still, he would not give up just yet. He'd keep trying for a few hours and then he'd leave, not wanting to stay out for too long.
As his shadows crept around though… Sunny continued his meditation, only half paying attention to the conversations he listened to. He breathed in, focusing deeply on his shadow sense and paying attention to every part of the world around him.
He was beginning his journey towards Transcendence.
From what he had learned from Aidre, it was probably going to be a long and arduous process, but it definitely beat entering the Third Nightmare. He'd learned his lesson on Nightmares now, and had no plans of entering another one for a long, long time.
'I've already conquered it anyway… I deserve to skip it this time.'
His journey to the Tomb of Ariel was already one of the hardest possible Third Nightmares someone could even do, and he'd cleared it. If he didn't deserve to transcend, no one did.
'Still…'
Sitting here meditating like this… it was a little boring. Perhaps if his shadows actually had something interesting to watch he wouldn't mind, but the menial conversations of the average person was boring him out of his mind.
But even then, he'd likely have to focus if he wanted to make actual progress, so he wasn't really going to be paying attention to what his shadows were doing anyway.
But in terms of progress… he wasn't really making any.
'What am I doing wrong?'
The essence of Transcendence was transforming one's essence and core, becoming one with the world-
'Ah… right.'
He had to become intertwined with the world around him, but how was he going to do that when he was hidden from it?
Feeling a little annoyed, he released the Veil clouding on his cores and began focusing again.
Sure enough, it worked.
'Oh, come on!'
His new attribute wasn't all powerful, it seemed. It had come with some limitations of its own. Since his soul was hidden from the world, it was far more difficult to intertwine himself with it. Using that knowledge, he realised that he likely wouldn't be able to absorb spirit essence while the Veil was active either.
Sunny wanted to flop over and sigh, but that would interrupt his meditation. Despite the setback, he pressed on, this time trying something new.
Rather than fully dispersing the Veil on one of his cores, he simply kept it on at half strength for all his cores. It would most certainly slow his progress while making it much harder, but at least the option was there. Had he been alone instead of being in the middle of a Citadel, he would've dispersed it entirely. For now though, he'd play it safe, not wanting anyone to accidentally discover the fact he was a Master. It likely wouldn't be the end of the world if someone knew, but he'd rather not raise any eyebrows.
And eventually, his shadow heard something interesting.
Sunny's eyes snapped open as he immediately ceased his meditation, zeroing in on what his shadow was hearing.
"...Sorry what?"
"Yeah! A kid! He couldn't have been more than, what… thirteen or something? But he was here!"
"No way… are you sure he was an Awakened? What if Sky Tide was just doing some family a favour or something?"
"No way. You should've seen the kid's eyes. They were like… mirrors or something! Completely silver!"
"If he's an Awakened here then why haven't I seen him?"
"That's the thing. Almost no one sees him. He showed up a lot more back when he just anchored here, but… a couple of the meaner guys tried to approach him and…"
"And what?"
"You should've seen it man. It's like the kids never even seen a human before! Completely freaked out and ran off. I think he's shown up a few times since, but he doesn't interact with anybody at all."
"Damn… still, awakened at that age? What the hell could've happened?"
"Yeah that's what we've been trying to figure out too. But White Feather's refused to say anything about him other than to treat him like we'd treat anyone else. I spoke with an Ascended friend the other night and she said it's possible that he isn't actually a kid and it's just an age regression Flaw or something."
"Ah, that makes sense… but that doesn't really explain the freak out, no?"
"Actually, Lady Tyris said that-"
The clearing of a throat interrupted their conversation, causing the two conversing Awakened to pause. Both of them turned at the same time to see that one of the other people that had been working nearby was looking at them.
"Hey, don't we need to finish this by the end of the day? Less talking, more working."
"Oh, right."
"Now that you mention it…"
And with that, the conversation was over.
Sunny clicked his tongue in disappointment.
'That must be one of the 'listeners'...'
The one who had interrupted them was not a co-worker. They had shown up at some point during the conversation, and had only been paying attention to them. Quite suspicious, really.
Standing up, he sighed.
'Guess this is going to be even harder than I thought.'
Not only was Mordret antisocial and constantly hiding himself, there were spies from Valor here limiting the spread of any information about him. If he were to try to ask around about the young prince, he'd likely get a couple stalkers of his own. And if they were to somehow notice that he seemingly never appeared within the Citadel, only exiting using the Gateway…
Sunny groaned.
'How am I gonna do this?'
He couldn't just aimlessly wander the Chained Isles until he found Mordret. Even if he did, there was no guarantee the boy would let him approach him, let alone speak to him.
'I'll think about this later…'
Because right now, he had to leave. Having been so focused on his meditation, he hadn't even noticed the subtle pull on his soul. A message had been left for him on the Wanderlust Communion.
Remaining vigilant, he decided to return to the waking world first, not wanting to summon it around people who might recognise what it was. The chances of that happening were extremely slim, but he'd really rather not.
Activating the Gateway, Sunny returned to the waking world.
Appearing within his basement, he immediately brought out his communicator to check the time.
'A bit past midnight…'
Wasn't Ki Song out in a Death Zone or something? What could Song possibly want?
Summoning the Wanderlust Communion, he saw that it was a message from Seishan.
'At this hour?'
Sunny hummed in thought for a moment before checking to see what she wanted.
Staring at the message, he blinked. There was a location and a short message.
[Come as yourself. Dress casual.]
'...Huh.'
It felt a little reminiscent of what Saint Tyris had done to him, but that was over a week ago, so surely it was just a coincidence.
'Dress casual..?'
Now, he was a little worried. What did she want? Why would he have to worry about how he was dressed? And why go as himself in particular?
Honestly, he was tempted to just pretend to have not seen it. At this time… it was reasonable to say he was asleep, right?
'...Better not.'
Seishan was smart. She had probably figured out his Flaw restrained what he said by now. He wouldn't be able to slip past her. And even then, he didn't want to ruin the deal they had… he had sold her quite a lot of soul shards now, and he was richer than ever.
'Then again, probably not as rich as a Legacy… not even close, actually.'
He blinked.
'Aren't I pretty much a Legacy now though? Where's my boatload of credits? Shouldn't I be getting an allowance or something?'
He hummed for a moment while thinking of what to wear.
'I'll ask Ki Song next time I see her. I should be getting paid way more!'
Come to think of it, Ki Song gave him a Memory every now and then, but aside from the soul shards she had given him back when he joined, he hadn't received anything else?
Sunny shook his head.
'I'm being scammed…'
With that thought, he stepped upstairs to pick an outfit and left.
***
Appearing near the building Seishan had said to go to, Sunny checked his communicator.
'This is the place…'
Looking up, he swallowed hard.
While the district he had visited Tyris in was lively and colourful, this one was certainly more… opulent. Luxury stores, fine dining, limousines… hell, there were even high rise buildings, something he practically never saw.
The place he was in was extremely exclusive, with it being practically littered with affluent Awakened and Legacies. Somehow, it felt even less welcoming than the party district.
Despite the fact it was the dead of the night, there were still plenty of PTVs and people walking around. As Awakened did not need to sleep as much, they were much more likely to still be up at times when mundane humans would be sleeping. That wasn't even mentioning the terribly hectic schedule most of them had.
Automatic doors slid open without even a quiet whir as Sunny approached the building.
Steeling his nerves, he stepped inside, only to be greeted by warmth and a pleasant atmosphere.
'Wha…'
Looking around, he realised the place was a café. Soft murmurs and calming music filled the air as the smell of coffee beans hit him. There were a couple people here and there, but the place was quite empty for the most part. Sweeping his gaze across the place he quickly spotted Seishan, who was sitting at one of the dimly lit tables in the back typing away on her communicator.
The moment he began approaching her, she looked up at him and waved him over.
Not thinking much of it, he casually walked over and sat across from her.
"Hey."
"Sunny."
The moment he sat down she turned to one of the waiters and nodded slightly. Not even two seconds later a steaming cup of coffee was placed in front of him.
"...Thank you."
"No problem at all."
Picking up the cup, he took a small sip.
'Still bitter.'
Well, at least it was free.
"So, why did you call me?"
"What, I can't just ask to see you?"
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"I… I guess? I'm sure you have a reason though?"
Seishan looked down at her own drink in thought.
"Not really. Ah, Eunbin and Revel have been wanting to see you though, something about wanting to knock your teeth out."
"I… see."
Despite her words and confident demeanor, he could still feel that she was tense, or rather, nervous about something.
'Did she call me here because she's expecting a fight or something? Surely a Legacy Heiress would have bodyguards no?'
And yet despite that, he couldn't really spot anyone with that description around.
He inwardly shrugged it off.
"So? You really just want to hang out? You could've just said that. But hanging out with a Legacy princess… don't you think I'd get bothered for this?"
Taking a sip from her drink, Seishan smiled.
"What? A lady can't have a coffee with a friend from the Forgotten Shore?"
Glancing at his own coffee, he sighed.
"I guess you're right. But why coffee?"
Seishan glanced at him questioningly.
"What's wrong with coffee?"
He shrugged.
"Nothing. I just didn't think it was your thing."
"Ah, I see. Actually, I chose this place out of consideration for you. I doubt you'd like the other places you could find around here."
"Oh… well then thank you."
Seishan calmly took another sip of her drink, not responding. Though through her shadow, Sunny felt her nervousness spike.
'What, is someone here? What's happening?'
What on earth was here that could make someone like her nervous? Was he missing something?
"What's with this place anyways? Is this where all the rich people live?"
"Precisely. Did it take you long to get here?"
He shook his head.
"I thought it was something urgent so I came here pretty quickly."
Tapping the side of her glass, Seishan looked at him.
"Really? Because I've been waiting for quite a while now."
He winced.
"Ah, I was a little focused on something so I didn't notice your message, sorry."
"No matter. Anyways, how is… the new one at your house?"
Sunny paused, having been in the middle of raising a cup to his lips. Setting it back down, he sighed.
"They're doing alright. There haven't been any problems so far, but I am still worried."
"About what?"
"Hm, I just… I feel a little lost. Actually, I'd prefer not to talk about this here. Want to go for a walk?"
Looking down at her cup and seeing that her drink was mostly finished, Seishan nodded.
"Alright."
Not wanting to waste anything, he quickly downed his entire coffee before standing up. Seishan stood up a moment later, both of them heading for the door.
"Don't we need to pay?"
She laughed, smiling smugly.
"No. I own the place."
"...Okay."
The waitress that had served them just now bowed politely as they passed, but Sunny could've sworn he felt her shoot him a dirty look the moment he left.
'Rude.'
Stepping out onto the street, he took a deep breath as he felt the cool air wash over him. It was still early in the year, and the weather was as cold as ever. Putting his hands into his coat pockets, he turned to his companion.
"I know I said let's go for a walk, but… I don't really know this place, so… lead the way?"
Seishan looked at him with a deadpan stare for a moment, before tilting her head north.
"Sure. Let's go."
Heels clicked and loafers scrunched as they walked. There was no snow tonight, but it was still quite chilly. Dim streetlights flooded the streets around them with yellow light as the thrum of a heavy PTV passed them by. Sunny quietly let out a breath, watching it turn to mist.
"So, how is she doing you think?"
Seishan turned to him, looking at him with the corner or her eye as he trailed behind her closely.
"Okay. She's been acting tough quite a lot, so I hope whatever I'm doing can still comfort her. Come to think of it, I actually have run into a small problem though."
"What problem?"
"I've procured a bunch of materials for her education, but I'm not exactly suited for teaching her that kind of thing. I've let her self-study while I learn it myself, but… that girl, she learns it faster than me! She quite enjoys studying, I think. Especially physics…"
Seishan turned away, but he assumed she was smiling slightly considering the emotions he felt from her.
"It is good that you are helping her to learn. I know hiring a tutor or something wouldn't exactly be easy."
"Mhm. But with her, I think a tutor would only slow her down. All I'm good for is teaching her how to cook and fight I guess."
"Don't sell yourself short. From what I'm hearing, you're doing well. How is Jet doing anyways? I haven't seen her since that day, come to think of it."
Sunny grimaced slightly, remembering the conversation they had shared not too long ago.
"She's been better, I think. Nothing that won't pass though."
"I suppose that's good enough. I'll talk to her soon."
'Right, they're friends.'
Jet had told him about it. Seishan had visited her quite a couple times while he was off in the Dream Realm.
"And how have you been, Sunny? Is everything alright after… all that?"
He shrugged.
"Could be worse. Just busy with a lot of things."
"Hm, well if you ever need help with… the girl, I'm sure I can convince mother to help. Did you say you were procuring learning material for her? I'll send you some of Song's stuff later if you want."
"That would be great, thank you. But it isn't necessarily the education aspect of all this I'm worried about. It's more… the social one. Being locked up in a house all day, it's… you know."
Seishan nodded, understanding completely.
"I'm sure something will be figured out eventually. Just make sure she's safe and happy until then."
"I guess so."
They abruptly stopped, causing Sunny to nearly bump into her. Balancing himself properly, he turned his head.
"Why'd you stop?"
Stopping to look around, he realised they were in a park. He had been so lost in thought that he'd lost track of his surroundings.
'How careless…'
Even though his shadows were circling around him at all times, it was still quite embarrassing for something like this to happen.
"We're here."
'Where..?'
He looked around and saw nothing. There weren't even streetlights here, with only a single bench watching over the city below.
"Let's sit. I'm tired of walking."
"If you say so…"
The two of them sat on either side of the bench. It was quite spacious, so there was still a decent amount of space between them.
Crossing his legs, Sunny turned to Seishan, who was sitting still with clasped hands placed on her lap.
"Why this spot? Is there something I'm missing?"
She laughed slightly.
"It's isolated isn't it? I thought you were the type to hate it when people listen in your conversations."
"...You are correct."
Despite the fact he could be considered a professional at eavesdropping, he still hated it when people secretly listened in on him. Perhaps like most people did.
"How are things with Song anyways? I heard the Queen is leaving for a while?"
"She is, and things are fine. One of our greatest cohorts is leaving for the Third Nightmare next week too."
Seishan paused for a moment.
"Ah, come to think of it, do you have any plans for the Nightmare? I feel like I should ask before you disappear out of the blue again…"
"No, no. Nothing like that. Perhaps never again even."
"Really? I thought you would already be preparing for it. I'm sure mother would allow it as well, as long as you told her."
Sunny laughed.
"In a world ruled by the Nightmare Spell, even preparation isn't enough. I'll do it if I need to, but for now I have no plans for it."
"Hm, I see. A shame."
"And you? You probably won't be beating my record, but what about your Nightmare? Any plans besides what your mother probably has for you?"
She sighed, leaning an elbow on the armrest.
"Not for another couple years, unless something unforeseen happens. I think I'll be entering it with a couple of my sisters. Ah, speaking of sisters, we've got a couple new aspirants at Ravenheart, and I'm sure they would appreciate a good teacher…"
"...If I have the time. Which ones?"
"Aylana and Selene."
"Ah, those two."
I didn't know Selene, but he knew Aylana. After all, that was Silent Stalker's real name. But as for Selene, he knew her because her awakening had caused a small stir within Ravenheart, with her awakening giving her white hair and eyes that glimmered like moonlight. He had heard her Aspect also had something to do with countering other Aspects, but that was about it.
"How is Ravenheart now? I heard Song Suming made an appearance at the bridge."
"She did. I also heard someone found traces of her jumping off the side of it into the abyss below. Know anything about that?"
Sunny coughed.
"I might."
Their conversation continued, going back and forth, springing from topic to topic, person to person, place to place. Neither of them even realised it, but at some point, the sun had begun rising.
Seeing the sun rise, Sunny's eyes widened.
"Ah, it seems I need to leave. Someone's going to be wanting breakfast."
"Mhm, I believe I've put off my work for long enough too."
Both of them stood up, facing each other.
Smiling slightly, he waved.
"I'll be off then. See you around, Seishan."
"Goodbye, Sunny."
With that, they both turned and left.
On his walk home, he did not think too much about what just happened. With him being more confused than anything.
Placing his hands in his pockets, he hummed to himself slightly.
'What, she really did just want to hang out? How strange. Must be a Legacy thing or something...'