Stepping out of the Mimic, Sunny motioned for Mordret to follow him.
"Come now! Let's get started right away."
Nodding slowly, the boy followed him out with unsteady steps.
"First off. Do you recognise this place?"
Sunny turned around to see if Mordret had a look of recognition in his eye, but…
"Hm."
…He was already gone, jumping into the nearest reflection and escaping.
Sunny decided to remain silent for a moment, allowing Mordret to see that he had nowhere to go. He wasn't sure how long the range of his mirror jump was, but he highly doubted it was far enough to get all the way to the distant islands below.
"Had enough yet? I promise I'm not going to hurt you. If I wanted to do that, I could've just let the Terror do it for me."
"..."
Mordret did not respond.
"Are you really going to keep hiding? A chance like this doesn't come easily, you know. I seriously doubt there's another person with an Aspect like you in the whole entire world, especially one who's willing to help you out."
Looking around, he still saw nobody.
"Ah, well, I tried. Aria, are-"
"This place… how did you get here?"
Sunny paused mid turn as Mordret appeared out of thin air before him.
"Oh, there you are! How did I get here, you say?"
Moving towards an open window, he pointed towards the arch at the edge of the island.
"I came here through that."
The boy's eyes widened.
"T-That?"
"Yeah, that. It's not too hard to get here as long as you know how to activate that."
Mordret stared at the arch for a while before slowly turning to him.
"Then… were you the one the ol-... the one teacher attacked on that day?"
"...That day?"
Sunny's gaze darkened, the shadows around him stirring at the memory.
"Ah, I see."
He sighed.
"Yes, I do believe that was me. And I must say, I can't believe that maniac exposed a mundane boy like you to the Corruption of a seed like that…. You have my sympathies, it must've been hard."
Mordret didn't seem to hear anything he said however, as he was still staring at him wide-eyed.
"Then… you are an Ascended?"
Sunny grinned.
"That's right, I am. Did I forget to mention that?"
Honestly, he was taking quite a big risk, putting everything out in the open like this, but… it wasn't like Mordret had anyone to tell this to anyway. Who was he gonna leak the information to, Anvil? Come on…
"Then… then you weren't lying."
Still smiling, Sunny tilted his head.
"Of course not. I never lie."
"You really have a Divine Aspect like me?"
"That's what I've been saying haven't I?"
Still staring at the distant arch, Mordret swallowed hard.
"How did you know? That I had one too."
Sunny snickered.
"It's not that hard to spot one when you know how they work. For one, that Reflection you created? I can do something like that too. And from what I've seen so far, all Divine Aspect wielders are able to have multiple cores, just like nightmare creatures."
"...Oh."
Mordret slowly nodded before turning to him.
"Then are you a Titan?"
"I am."
The boy then went quiet, muttering something unintelligible to himself.
After thinking for a moment though, Sunny added:
"Ah, but before we begin, I should probably ask: you aren't still associated with this… teacher of yours, are you?"
Mordret's gaze darkened immediately, fury contained deep within his mercury eyes.
"No."
Sunny sighed in relief, shuddering slightly.
"Good! Because honestly, if I ever run into that bastard again I might just cry."
Of course, he already knew Mordret had cut any and all ties with Asterion, but he couldn't let the boy know he already knew.
"Though I do find it quite strange that he'd bring around a kid like you specifically, but you can tell me why another day, because I'm sure it wasn't for a good reason."
"Yes… thank you."
Clenching his fists, Mordret went silent for a while. Looking him up and down, Sunny decided that he probably wasn't ready to begin training right away.
"Hm, I suppose we shouldn't start just yet. Rest for now, and-"
"Why did you help me?"
Sunny blinked.
"What?"
"Why? Why help me? Why teach me? Is it because of my Divine Aspect? Or-"
Laughing slightly, Sunny smiled.
"No, no! Of course not."
"Then why?"
Turning away, he gazed at the distant horizon.
"...You just looked like you needed it."
It was the honest truth. Sunny wasn't the most emotionally intelligent person out there, but even he could tell the boy seemed lost. There were some ulterior motives, sure, but even if he didn't know Mordret, there was a decent chance he'd still help him. Most of his lingering hatred for the Prince of Nothing was gone by now, seeing as he was now just an awkward teenager. What kind of adult would he be if he still held onto his grudge? Against a person who didn't even technically exist yet, no less.
"Oh."
Sighing, Mordret looked at him neutrally.
"Then I do suppose declining your offer would be quite foolish of me…"
"Great! We'll start later today! Familiarise yourself with the place first, and introduce yourself to Aria if you want. Oh, but don't tell her about the Divine thing, she doesn't really need to know. There's another resident here too, but you'll meet her later."
"Okay. Though… what should I call you now? I'm not sure Awakened Sunless fits anymore…"
Sunny blinked.
"Oh, true. I guess Te-"
He paused. Hadn't Mordret just called Asterion teacher? If he made him address him by teacher as well, it might bring up bad memories…
'Instructor? No… too formal. Boss? Still no… Sunny? Nope. Hm, how about chief? Still no…'
The silence was getting a little awkward now. He had to think of something fast.
'A-Ah… I can't think of anything.'
"I suppose bro should be fine."
"...Bro?"
'...Goddamn it.'
Sunny nodded, doing his best to not let his expression slip.
'You just couldn't think of anything else, could you? Damn it!'
"Ye- No. No wait. Call me mentor instead. Yeah, mentor! Ah, but if you prefer bro that's fine too."
'Much better!'
It would've been quite the travesty if he'd been stuck being called br-
"Hm, I think bro sounds better."
Sunny froze.
'...I just had to add that last part, didn't I?'
He sighed internally.
"I didn't know you had such a sense of humour, Awakened Mordret."
Tilting his head slightly, the boy's expression did not change.
"I don't know what you mean?"
"...Nevermind. Just get out of here. I need to think of what to teach you."
Still looking a little confused, the boy nodded.
"Oh, okay. Then please inform me when we begin, bro."
'Oh for fu…'
***
After seeing Mordret wander off, Sunny slowly ascended the stairs of the Ivory Tower, entering Hope's chambers. Despite the fact he didn't spend much time at his Citadel, the place still felt familiar to him. After all, he'd spent many hours in the shadowed version of it in his Soul Sea, standing next to the shadow of Hope as he stared at nothing in particular.
'Ah, I think I got a little too carried away…'
Though he did have some idea of how he wanted to deal with Mordret, he hadn't exactly planned on making him his apprentice today, it just… kind of happened?
'Hopefully he doesn't find it strange…'
He was sort of banking on the fact that the Prince of Nothing didn't know enough about social relations to realise the fact that Sunny himself was highly suspicious. Even though he certainly did have ulterior motives, none of them were nefarious or anything.
'I mean he agreed to it though, so it should be fine?'
There was also the chance that Mordret would run the first chance he got, and if he did, then well… it would be quite unfortunate.
'Oh well…'
He just had to hope he didn't. Sunny wasn't a fan of restricting the freedom of others, so if he wanted to run then so be it. It would be frustrating for sure, but sometimes things just went wrong.
'Now… What should I teach him?'
He knew a thing or two about Mordret's Aspect, but not too much. There was his ability to see and travel through reflections, the ability to send his reflections elsewhere like he could send his shadows away, the ability to create Reflections like he could create Shadows, as well as the ability to enter someone's soul through their eyes to take over their body. There was his Mirror Realm as well, but that he'd only unlock that ability as an Ascended. Though it was certainly possible that the Mordret of the past had always had that ability and was simply tricking him back in the Tomb of Ariel.
'His Aspect always did feel a little similar to mine…'
He lacked the ability to augment himself with his reflections, but made up for it with far more mobility, survivability, and utility. Sunny's Shadow Creation took heaps of resources and time, while from what he'd seen, Mordret's Reflections just needed to kill things.
Did they even need soul shards? He still had no clue…
'Doesn't matter. The Mirror Beasts are a reflection of him anyways, if he gets stronger, so will they.'
The Shadow Dance would be quite well-suited for the boy, seeing as it also relied on mimicking the moves of other beings…
'Should I start with that?'
Sunny thought for a while. Hearing the sound of splashing water, he glanced at the nearby lake and was greeted with the sight of Aria freestyling across the waters.
'No… it should be that instead.'
The thing that would benefit Mordret the most currently would most likely be learning how to fight alongside his Reflections.
'Yeah…'
All the way back on the Forgotten Shore, Sunny's greatest weapons had always been someone else. Be it the Carapace Scavenger Echo, Nephis, Saint… Aside from himself, his greatest asset had always been his allies. He smiled slightly at the thought.
From what he knew, Mordret considered his Reflection his first ever friend as well, so it would do him quite well to learn how to fight alongside it.
'I think it was called Beastie, right?'
Sunny remembered the days before everything had gone to hell, back when he'd slain the Mirror Beast on Reckoning Isle. Its name had been inscribed on the small shard it'd left behind.
'Huh.'
The memory made him a little sad… Seeing what the boy was like now, he realised he'd been wrong about him. Back in Antarctica, there had been a conversation he'd had with Tyris where he'd asked her if she regretted letting Mordret go or not. He remembered being disappointed with the Saint's answer, believing that the Prince had always been a monster.
Now though…
'He really did just need guidance.'
And yet, Anvil had still decided to kill him. And when that didn't work, he decided to lock him away forever. Of course, Sunny didn't know the full context behind it, but… the Mordret he knew right now most definitely didn't deserve that.
Sunny laughed to himself.
'Maybe I'm being tricked. Maybe he really has been a monster all this time, and I'm simply being taken for a fool… Why else would Anvil have needed to create those charms? He had to have already been taking over people's bodies by then.'
Even if he was… so be it. In this life, he'd choose peace.
Looking at the Chained Isles below, he grinned and summoned the Mimic beneath him.
***
Standing in the courtyard just outside the Ivory Tower, Sunny smiled.
"Ready for your first lesson?"
Mordret slowly nodded, glancing at the sky for a moment. The sun was longer above them as it continued its journey, the day slowly sinking into the afternoon.
"Yes, I believe so."
Crossing his arms, Sunny nodded as well.
"Then, summon your little friend."
Mordret blinked, slightly confused. A second later though, he seemed to realise what Sunny meant.
A mirror shard revealed itself, floating in the air for a moment before expanding into a perfect copy of the boy. Squinting slightly, Sunny saw that it was an Awakened Monster.
'Not bad…'
"Now, I want you to only reflect yourself for the period of this battle. Use your weapons and body as your means of attack."
Mordret seemed a little surprised that Sunny knew how his Reflections worked, but nodded.
"This battle?"
"Yep."
Opening the lid of the small chest by his feet, he yelled inside:
"Send the first one out!"
Nothing responded from the darkness for a moment, but without a warning, a mighty wolf was thrown out, its size comically big compared to the lid of the chest. As the beast flailed around mid air, Sunny knocked it forward, causing it to land right in front of Mordret.
"Kill it."
"H-Huh?"
The wolf slowly stood on all fours, snarling ferociously as it eyed the boy with demented hunger.
Now standing far away, Sunny yelled out to him and gave him a thumbs up.
"Don't reflect it! You got this!"
"Huuuuh?!"
The wolf attacked immediately, swiping its mighty limbs at the boy, who only barely managed to roll out of the way while quickly summoning a weapon.
'Hm…'
The weapon, which Sunny was almost certain was the Cruel Sight, appeared in the hands of the Reflection rather than the hands of Mordret.
'Does he not have another weapon?'
The boy continued the run from the beast, jumping out of the way every single time it lunged at him. Using his ability to see through reflections, he only ever dodged when the wolf went for a heavy attack. His strategy was successful so far, but…
Sunny snickered slightly.
…he had not struck back even once. Beastie tried to help, but his speed wasn't much faster than Mordret. The Reflection couldn't catch up to assist its master.
The scene was quite comical, with Mordret running away from the terrifying wolf while his Reflection attempted to catch up. Even Aria had stopped her swim to watch the scene, trying her best not to laugh.
Sunny considered tossing him a weapon, but decided to watch for now. Most likely, in every fight so far, Mordret had relied on his Reflection copying the beastly body of his opponents, using it to match its physical strength while still having the numbers advantage. If this Mordret was even a little bit as careful as the one he knew, he'd have never tried to take on a nightmare creature above his rank, not before his Reflections grew stronger anyways.
'I'll have to catch some Fallen later…'
He'd only collected a couple Awakened abominations today, simply as a test. The wolf Mordret was fighting currently was a mere Awakened Monster.
'Oh!'
Sunny's eyes widened slightly as he saw the wolf tumble over, having tripped across a small gorge Mordret had crossed.
'Not bad…'
The boy had obviously led it there in an attempt to get it off his heels. It was no wonder he'd survived for this long, with a mind that could think even while on the run from a deadly predator.
Still though…
Watching Beastie jump onto the Monster's back and stab his blade into it, he sighed a little bit.
'Really now…'
He'd been wielding a Divine Aspect for - what, three months now? And this was all he could manage?
'Hmmm. Though I do suppose that's unfair of me.'
Sunny had been thrown straight in the middle of hell, forced to either fight or die, kill or be killed. Mordret however, had come to the Chained Isles, where a decent amount of Awakened and even a Saint was stationed. If Sunny had been sent here for his Solstice, he'd have thought he was in heaven. And here in the isles, aside from the Crushing and the Corrupted that lived on the underside of the islands, the place was quite safe compared to most regions in the Dream Realm.
Mordret had no driving factor that forced him to enter fights to the death everyday, no looming fear that he'd never escape this damn place… maybe if he had, if he'd been forced to grow his power exponentially everyday, he'd have never been caught by Valor.
'No… that doesn't make sense…'
Then how was Mordret so much more skilled than him back then? He'd been damn near helpless in their soul duel, a memory he remembered quite clearly.
Trying quite hard to remember what happened, Sunny shrugged to himself.
'Maybe he just absorbed the experience from Beastie? Hell if I know…'
If it had been the Mirror Beast from Reckoning Isle, then it made sense. That Devil had been prowling those lands for years, attacking any and everything it came across. No doubt it had learned to fight as countless different beings, both human and nightmare creatures. It would also explain how Mordret had known about his Aspect and Flaw, considering he'd never been actively controlling the beast to be able to glean what his runes would have been. There was a possibility that he had indeed been able to control his Reflection even from his prison, but if he could, surely he'd have broken himself out at some point…
Noticing the boy struggling, Sunny sighed and yelled out:
"Catch!"
A dark blade identical to the Cruel Sight embedded itself in the ground next to Mordret, its handle awaiting his grasp. The boy had backed away from the Monster at some point, watching carefully as it struggled to throw his Reflection off its back.
Reaching for the blade, he grabbed it and immediately dashed over to assist Beastie, aiming the exposed neck of the wolf.
Sunny just silently watched.
'I suppose he never had someone to teach him either.'
Even he'd had someone to teach him back then. It was easy to forget that he wasn't alone back on the Forgotten Shore, considering the fact that his memories of his first time there were now superimposed with the second time, where he'd spent most of it in solitude.
Watching the wolf topple over as a fountain of blood left its neck, Sunny clapped his hands together, scrunching his eyebrows slightly as he felt the beast's shadow enter his soul.
"Good!"
Slowly walking over to the boy, he offered him a hand, seeing as he'd collapsed in exhaustion.
Taking it, Mordret stood up with a tired groan.
"What… what exactly was that supposed to teach me?"
Sunny laughed, ignoring the glare that was coming from Beastie.
"What else? How to fight, of course!"
"I… I know how to fight."
Raising an eyebrow, Sunny turned to the fallen body of the wolf. Many cuts and stabs were on its back, as well as two desperate stabs in its neck.
"Really? You call that fighting?"
Shaking his head, he turned back to Mordret.
"Let me guess — In your battles so far, you've had your Reflection over here transform into whatever lone beast you're facing, and while the beast is distracted by your friend, you stab it in the back?"
The boy blinked, wordlessly opening his mouth.
"Yes, that's quite accurate."
Sunny nodded, closing his eyes.
"Mhm. Not a bad strategy. But relying on your Reflections won't get you that far, you know. You need to work on your own skills too!"
Shadows surged beneath the corpse of the wolf, moving it away to be fed to the Mimic.
"You can definitely rely on your Aspect a lot of the time, but what about when you run out of essence? What about when you get stuck in an environment where it doesn't function properly? What if you're forced to face something you can't reflect or run from, just like today?"
"Oh… okay. I understand."
Sighing, Sunny patted him on the shoulder.
"I see that your Aspect is capable of letting you become other beings, you are still a human at your core, so don't you ever forget that. Before you do well as another beast, you must first do well as yourself."
Mordret slowly nodded.
"Yes. Yes, I'll remember."
"Good!"
Sunny stepped away and gave him a thumbs up.
"I think you've gotten enough rest, so now, it's time for round two! Get ready!"
"W-Wait!"
Still panting slightly, Mordret raised his arms in protest.
"Not happening! You think nightmare creatures are gonna wait for you when you need a break? Solvane dear, send out the next one!"
This time, two wolves were thrown out of the Mimic before getting knocked towards Mordret.
"Two?!"
Sunny laughed.
"Most nightmare creatures in this region travel in groups! You should know how to fight against multiple of them!"
With a frustrated groan, Mordret lowered himself and got ready for battle. The Cruel Sight in Beastie's hand shifted into a different weapon, so Sunny shifted the shadow weapon in Mordret's hand as well.
'Hm? Not a spear?'
Watching the two identical Mordrets slowly paced as the wolves lifted themselves off the ground, Sunny noted that the weapon he held was more like a dagger rather than a spear.
'Strange… the shortsword form was the same.'
Did the boy's version of the Cruel Sight differ from the one the Spell recreated for him? Was it a simple change in appearance, or was it able to transform into any sort of weapon he wished? It would've been quite the suitable weapon for a reflection like him if that were the case.
Placing a chin on his palm, Sunny silently tapped the side of his face in thought.
Mordret didn't seem to be doing very well. He didn't need to step in yet, but…
'This'll take longer than I thought.'
The thought didn't bother him too much, seeing as he didn't really have anything in particular to do. Though now that he'd seen the Creature of the Lake, the urge to kill it had grown even stronger…
Sunny sighed. He wasn't strong enough yet, so that would have to wait. Only a fool would rush into battle against a Terror that had survived all the way from the Golden Age until now.
Howls and the clamor of steel echoed across the horizon as the sun slowly set in the distance.
***
With a mournful wail, the final nightmare creature collapsed to the ground, dead. Panting tiredly, Mordret wiped the sweat off his face before collapsing on his rear.
"Well done."
Sunny appeared before him, offering him some water. He wasn't even sure if an existence like the Prince of Nothing needed water, but it couldn't hurt.
"Thank… you…"
Taking the Fountain Keeper from his hands, Mordret drank several large gulps immediately, sighing in relief as the Memory parted from his lips.
"I think I've seen enough now. Your real training starts tomorrow."
The boy stared at him, sighing heavily.
"That wasn't the training…?"
Sunny shook his head with a laugh.
"Oh, that? Not really. I was just checking to see how capable you were. You did… alright. Tomorrow though, you'll be going against Aria and me instead."
"Oh…"
Mordret looked over to the lake, seeing the still swimming figure of Aria.
"Might I ask who she is? Is she your family of some sort?"
Sunny blinked.
"No, of course not. She's just a friend of mine who's staying here for now. You really don't know her?"
Mordret shook his head.
"No… should I?"
"Maybe? She was the leader of the Sleeper army that managed to escape from the Forgotten Shore, one of the biggest rising stars in the world of Awakened right now."
The boy blinked, glancing at Beastie for a moment before turning back to him.
"I… what is the Forgotten Shore?"
Scrunching his eyebrows, Sunny looked at Mordret in confusion.
"What is the Forgotten… Do you live under a rock? It's a region of the Dream Realm that was only recently discovered due to a massive amount of Sleepers escaping it from the same time, one of the biggest mass awakenings since the Dawn of the Nightmare Spell!"
The boy looked at him, bewildered.
"No. I have never heard of it."
"Huuuh? What else don't you know?"
Mordret raised his hands in protest.
"I-I don't know?"
Lowering his hands, he turned away, speaking in a low voice.
"To… To tell you the truth, I've never been to the waking world."
Sunny immediately jumped forward.
"Huuuuuh?! Never? Not once?"
Pushing him away, Mordret stammered:
"No, I have… just not when I could remember."
Sunny slowly nodded in understanding.
"Oh… I see. It has to do with… nevermind."
Turning towards the lake, he yelled out:
"Aria! Get over here!"
The woman paused mid swim, turning to him.
"What?"
"Get! Over! Here!"
She seemed to hear him this time, quickly swimming towards the shore.
"Okay!"
Seeing her surface, Sunny groaned and turned away.
'Ugh… I told her to stop that.'
For her swim, Radiant Dawn had discarded everything but her underclothes, leaving her sun-kissed skin and black tattoos visible. Sunny had even brought her swimwear from the waking world, but she refused to use it, saying it brought bad memories or whatever.
"What is it now?"
Having summoned a simple set of leather armour, she sat down next to them with a curious look.
"Mordret here says he's never been to the waking world. Can you believe it?"
Aria's eyes widened.
"Huuuh?! Not even once? You're missing out, kid."
"Missing out…?"
Sunny nodded.
"Yes, missing out. There are many comforts out there that the Dream Realm just can't replicate. Like uh…"
He paused, trying to think of something that might appeal to the boy.
"I'm not sure. Aria, help me out."
"Cheh, really? Fine. There's…"
Their conversation continued throughout the evening, the mood light. In the distant horizon, the sun had already set and darkness blanketed the Chained Isles. For Sunny and Aria, it was a regular old evening, but for the estranged Prince of Valor who'd never even had a single friend in his life aside from his own Reflection… it was a memory he'd never forget.