"Bro… you're leaving again?"
Sighing and standing up, Sunny nodded.
"Yep. Always business to attend to back on Earth. I assume you won't be joining me this time either?"
Mordret shook his head with a weak smile.
"Sorry… I just don't think I'd enjoy it much."
Shrugging slightly, Sunny shook his head and made his way towards the Gateway.
"Fair enough! See you tomorrow, Awakened Mordret."
"See you…"
As they'd been on the outskirts of the Sanctuary of Noctis, he had to walk for a bit to make it to the Gateway, but thankfully, nobody stopped him on his way. It had been two weeks since Mordret had accepted him as his mentor now, and things had been… alright for the most part.
'Weird… so weird.'
He'd already noticed something before, but the more time he spent around the boy, the more obvious it was that he was missing something. Sunny tried his best to figure out what it was as he felt himself traveling between worlds.
The most obvious one for him was of course the fact that Mordret felt no joy at all, not even a little bit. His first assumption had been that the trauma of whatever it was he'd experienced with Anvil and Asterion had made it hard for him to feel such things, but that didn't seem like it either…
'No joy, but no sadness either?'
There had been things like anger and fear, but aside from that, the boy mostly just felt… vigilant?
'It's like the only emotions he has are the ones needed for survival…'
Fear, apprehension, nervousness… sometimes it almost felt like he was dealing with a wild animal rather than a human boy. Not always, of course, seeing as this Mordret was far more reasonable and willing to listen compared to a certain someone he once knew.
Appearing within his basement, Sunny sighed, rubbing his forehead. It was still the early hours of the morning, so he simply sat down to meditate for a while.
'I hope this is the right choice…'
The rate at which the boy improved was honestly a little scary. Was this how Nephis felt when she'd taught him how to fight back then? As a wielder of a Divine Aspect, there were of course many things Mordret was better off learning on his own, but using just the things Sunny was able to teach him, his battle prowess had already grown immensely.
'At this rate… it'll only be a few months before he can roam free on his own without worries.'
There was a very real possibility that he was creating a monster right now, one that would devour the souls of many if left unchecked.
'Maybe I should've waited…'
Had he been closer to Transcendence, such a thing wouldn't worry him even a little bit. But as a Master… if he wasn't careful, Mordret could easily slip away from him. Sunny could only hope that the boy would see what he was really trying to teach him. It definitely wouldn't be easy to guide him on the right path…
'Hm, no. That's not true.'
Sunny himself wasn't even sure he was on the right path, or if there even was such a thing in the first place. In fact, such a concept irked him slightly. Only a misguided fool could convince themselves that they were on the path of righteousness.
'I'll just guide him on the path of… not being a cold-hearted killer? No… that's not right either.'
Sunny was a killer too, and he wasn't interested in telling people that such a thing was wrong. In a world ruled by the Nightmare Spell, having the will to kill was practically a necessity, because if you didn't, you'd die.
'The path of… I don't even know anymore…'
Maybe he'd be better off just sending the boy to go learn from Sky Tide. She seemed like a much better role model in his eyes. Though getting Mordret to trust a Saint of Valor was probably never going to happen, and it wasn't like Tyris was the easiest person to trust either with how inexpressive and distant she was.
Laying on his back and staring at the ceiling, he sighed again.
'Why am I even here…?'
It was hard not to doubt himself with how many uncertainties there were, but he still pushed on. Even if everything went to hell again, he'd get through it.
After a while, Sunny pushed himself off the ground with a groan. As much as he'd like to laze around all day, there were still things to do.
'At least there's good news…'
The shadow he'd left at one of Valor's bases had received the most terrible news! Two Awakened had died in a tragic accident during an undisclosed mission, leaving the clan with two less operatives to serve them. It was not uncommon for Awakened to die while performing their tasks, and the mission that the two had been on wasn't exactly safe either, so it was not at all a strange occurrence, and one he definitely had nothing to do with!
Those two Awakened were of course, the ones who had visited his home a while back. And he hadn't done anything besides make their mission just a little bit more difficult, so really, he couldn't be blamed for such a thing!
Though for now… he'd leave it at that. There was no point in antagonizing Valor anymore anyways. None that would benefit him in any way, at least. The operative that had gotten Calida killed had also died in the crash, so there was no reason to pursue them anymore. The only one left for him was just their boss… Saint Madoc. It was his direct order that had shattered the Immortal Flame that day, and Sunny was itching to give him a piece of his mind.
'Not yet.'
Whispering Blade was one of the strongest humans in the world, he wasn't someone he could try his best to assassinate. He needed more information first, as well as an opportunity, and even if he did win, stopping a Saint from escaping would be exceedingly difficult for him. But then came the question of whether he even wanted him dead. Killing the nominal head of Valor would destabilise their already fragile world quite a lot, and he wasn't sure if it was worth it.
'I still need more time to decide.'
Madoc was fated to die during the Chain of Nightmares anyways. It wasn't like his death was already set in stone or anything, but Sunny felt hell of a lot better knowing that the man's end wouldn't be pretty.
Slowly making his way upstairs, he silently pondered on what he should have for breakfast.
***
"Ugh…"
Resting his head on the cool soil beneath him, Sunny covered his eyes as he felt an oncoming headache.
"Haha! Wonderful!"
"Good… always good…"
Solvane and Aria laughed together not too far away, as they'd just finished a skirmish against a small horde of Fallen, led by a Corrupted Beast. Sunny had spotted them emerging from the underside of one the islands beneath the Ivory Tower and decided to bring his little group with him.
"Oh… what's with you?"
Hearing Aria's slightly worried voice, he cracked an eye open, curious to see what she was referring to.
'Ah.'
Mordret was hunched over, clutching his chest as he breathed heavily. Sunny had brought him to fight as well, seeing as it'd be the perfect learning experience for him. He'd actually brought him to quite a few now in the past month and a half, and Sunny was very happy with his progress.
Right now though…
"Leave him alone Aria, he's fine."
The woman glanced at him for a second and shrugged.
"If you say so…"
Mordret was, of course, forming a new core. Sunny still wasn't certain how he absorbed fragments, but if it was anything like his shadow fragments, then the boy certainly got a lot more than he did to be able to form a core already. Watching with a curious eye, he witnessed a radiant core appear within the boy's soul, forming out of seemingly nothing.
'Interesting…'
The process finished astonishingly fast, taking far less time to form than his Shadow Cores.
'Makes sense. His cores seem more… fragile?.. than mine.'
The old Prince of Nothing often treated his Reflections like fodder as well, so clearly, forming a new core was nothing special for him.
For this him though…
Light footsteps approached him, accompanied by a tired sigh as Mordret sat down next to him.
"Bro, I did it!"
With his eyes still covered, Sunny gave him a thumbs up.
"Good… job…"
"Heheh… it's thanks to your teachings, bro."
Sunny smiled slightly.
"That's good to hear! I suppose I'll be ramping up the difficulty of your lessons now, seeing how much you've improved and all."
The boy immediately paled at his words.
"I… that is not… you…"
Removing his arm from his face, Sunny laughed.
"Relax! I'm only joking… for the most part."
"Oh…"
Mordret did not seem to buy it.
"Though… may I ask which part you were joking about?"
Seeing as he'd noticed the hidden meaning in his words, Sunny nodded in satisfaction.
"I was joking about ramping up the difficulty because of your improvements, of course. I was planning on ramping it up anyways!"
"...Oh. I see."
Beastie appeared next to the boy, silently patting his shoulder. The Reflection seemed to be doing well for itself, seeing as the power radiating within its cores were noticeably stronger now. No doubt, it'd be a Demon soon.
"Are you going to create another Reflection?"
Mordret did not respond right away, silently pondering for a while.
"No… not yet. I think I'm going to work on improving my own power for now."
Sunny nodded.
"Good choice."
The Chained Isles was not the most dangerous region out there, especially for someone who wielded a Divine Aspect. It was the perfect place to grow one's strength in relative peace, one of the main reasons Sunny had chosen to anchor himself here again in the first place.
"I'm going to be laying here for a while you know, so maybe you should go chat with Aria."
His mind flashed with the things he'd experienced while fused with Solvane, so he was still currently trying to get a feel for his Spirit Essence, which was not a swift process.
The boy glanced at him.
Then, he looked at the two women whispering something to each other, laughing in between each sentence.
Then, he looked back at him.
"...No thanks. I think I'll just sit here with you, bro."
Sunny shifted slightly, sitting up with his back straight, preparing himself for meditation.
"Suit yourself."
Mordret tilted his head curiously at his actions before copying his pose, causing Sunny to raise an eyebrow.
"...What are you doing?"
"I want to try it as well."
"Try what?"
"Meditating. I once heard somewhere that it was good for your mind. How do you do it?"
Sunny thought for a moment before responding. Of course, he wasn't exactly meditating like the way the boy was implying, but teaching him how to do it wouldn't hurt.
"Simple. You just…"
Hearing his methods, Mordret nodded along, doing his best to follow his lead. Time passed, with the two of them sitting together in dead silence, only the occasional crash in the distance echoing across the island.
Eventually though, the boy seemed to grow bored, turning his head to him curiously.
"Bro?"
Without moving, Sunny responded.
"Yes?"
Pulling one of his sleeves back, Mordret carefully brushed a finger against the black tattoos that ran down his arm.
"Why did you give me this?"
Opening an eye ever-so-slightly, Sunny glanced at him.
"Oh, that? It's a… symbol of those who work closely with me, I suppose. I thought it'd go well with you. I'm sure you've noticed that Aria has one too."
Right before the battle had begun, he had decided to grant the boy the Mark of Shadows, seeing as they'd been mentor and student for a decent amount of time now.
"What is it exactly?"
Sunny grinned.
"It's called the Mark of Shadows, and it grants you a… Do you know what a Soul Serpent is?"
The boy shook his head.
"No?"
"Ah, a shame. It's an ancient type of Shadow that divine shadows like me wielded. That Mark gives you a weaker version of one."
Mordret's eyes widened.
"Really?"
He nodded.
"Really. So how is it?"
The black tattoos on the boy's arm surged slightly, the head of a miniscule snake emerging from them.
"It's… curious."
Sunny nodded.
"That it is. I'm not sure how well it'll go with your Aspect and combat style, but I don't think it'd hurt to have. There are quite a lot of benefits to having one, you know! I'm sure you've already noticed some of them."
Mordret slowly nodded.
"Yes, I have. I… Thank you, bro."
The boy still seemed unconvinced about something, prompting Sunny to ask:
"You don't seem too thrilled. What is it?"
Recalling the snake back into a tattoo, Mordret frowned.
"It's… it's just… I thought this was something you only granted to Aria?"
"...What? Why would it only be her?"
The boy turned his head away, clearly realising he'd been wrong about whatever it was he was thinking.
"Because you two are lovers?"
"..."
Sunny pursed his lips, doing his best not to burst out laughing.
…Sadly though, he failed.
"H-Huh? Why are you laughing?"
"Bahahahaha! Mordret, you-!"
"D-Did I say something wrong?"
Wiping the tears from his eyes, Sunny sighed.
"No… no, kid. Aria and I are not lovers. Where did you get that idea from?"
"I-I don't know? You just… don't seem to spend time with anybody else, aside from your Shadows? And I thought…"
Still laughing slightly, he shook his head.
"Mordret… She's the only resident in my Citadel. Who else am I going to spend time with? And I have plenty of other people I spend time with in the waking world, and they sure as hell aren't my lovers!"
"O-Oh."
"This is a mark I only grant to close friends and allies, kid. Aria and I aren't like that.."
The boy slowly blinked.
"I… see. I'm sorry for assuming."
Snickering slightly, Sunny whispered.
"Don't tell Aria you thought that though. She might… hm, no. She'd definitely beat your ass for saying such a thing."
"Okay…"
As he went back to meditating, he added one last thing.
"On a side note, if you plan on making the Serpent stronger or if you want to utilise that shadow sense, just tell me. I'm quite the expert, you see."
"Of course. Thanks again, bro."
Nodding, Sunny shut his eyes and went back to meditating.
***
"Hm."
Slowly opening his eyes, he looked around, making sure nothing strange had happened while he was focusing.
'I'm getting close…'
He still hadn't managed to draw in even a little bit of Spirit Essence, but it felt like it was within reach now. He just needed a little push, something to break past the mental block…
Looking to his side, he saw Mordret curiously messing with a small black dagger, and looking ahead, he saw Aria trying to climb a tree with only one hand as Solvane goaded her from atop one of the tree's branches.
'The hell…'
Shaking his head, Sunny realised that in his focused state, he hadn't even noticed something subtly pulling at his soul.
'Oh no…'
He immediately summoned the [Wanderlust Communion], seeing as the pull was coming from that Memory in particular.
'Oh no no no…'
How long ago had he received the message now? What if it was something important?
Blinking, Sunny remembered something.
'Oh yeah… didn't I get a Memory earlier?'
Immediately sidetracked by the thought, he summoned the runes.
Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteers Shroud], [Weaver's Mask], [Shackle Key], [Heralds Cloak], [Midnight Shard], [Moonlight Shard], [Shadow Lantern], [Fountain Keeper], [Extraordinary Rock], [Breath of Mu], [Keepers Maw], [Liars Road], [Beasts Mask], [Wanderlust Communion], [Trounce Legate], [Heat Locket], [Abyssal Drapes], [Nether's Workbench], [Nether's Worktable], [Shadow Bed], [Weaver's Needle], [Shadow Chair], [Sun's Tears], [Dreamcatcher], [Sorcerer's Robes], [Greenhouse], [Sage of the North Sea], [Word of Ten].
Sifting through the runes of the new Memory, he sighed in disappointment.
'Another dud.'
It could record ten words before sounding it out loud, something he could already easily do with Extraordinary Rock.
'I'll feed it to Mimic later.'
Glancing at his list of the Memories though, he couldn't help but feel it looked a little off.
'Hm… It's probably nothing.'
Seeing as the [Wanderlust Communion] had finished summoning itself, he discarded the thought, checking on the message he'd received.
And sure enough…
[Mother has returned. Meet me at you know where. Come as yourself.]
"...Shit."
'How long ago did I get this?'
It was a message from Seishan, something he'd grown accustomed to recently. The princess would only call on him every few days or weeks and have him perform a couple tasks, which was usually just killing an elusive nightmare creature.
"Bro?"
Hearing him curse, Mordret glanced over at him.
"It's nothing, though it seems like I have some business to attend to now. Aria! Solvane! Get your asses over here!"
Sunny immediately stood up, feeling a little nervous.
'Is she going to keep her word?'
Ki Song had said she'd help him with Valor… was this why she immediately called for him?
"Huh? What's up?"
Having been carried over by Solvane, Aria appeared swiftly, panting slightly.
"Nothing, but I need to leave. Do any of you want to go to the Tower, or should I just leave you here?"
"Uh… Guess I'd be fine staying at the tower."
"I'll stay here, bro."
Sunny nodded.
"Alright. I'll see you later, Mordret. Aria, Solvane, with me."
Giving the boy a small wave, he stepped into the Mimic and left.
***
Making sure he was dressed well, Sunny briskly left his house in the dead of night, making sure he went unseen. He'd already responded to Seishan's message, and she'd confirmed that she had indeed been waiting for nearly half an hour now.
'Only half an hour… could've been worse.'
He'd been meditating for several hours after all. It was quite lucky that the message had only come towards the end.
Swiftly traveling through the dark streets of NQSC, Sunny made his way towards the place he usually met with Seishan, one of Clan Song's safehouses. It wasn't too close to where his house was, but he'd been here before, so he knew the fastest route to get there.
And not long later, he arrived.
"Seishan."
Looking up from her communicator, she nodded.
"Sunny. You're late."
"...I know. Sorry."
With a short sigh, she stood up from her comfortable looking chair before motioning to a nearby door.
"Come."
"Huh? We're staying here?"
"Just come."
Shutting his mouth, Sunny silently followed her, having already sensed the shadow of another person in a nearby room.
'Oh.'
"Ahah! Seishan! Is he finally here?"
"Indeed."
Stepping to the side, she let the person get a good look at him. Sunny bowed slightly, remaining polite.
"Lady Mara."
"You are… yes, Song told me. Seishan… I cannot believe you didn't tell me who this was earlier!"
Seishan raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Sunny blinked.
"...Huh?"
"Yes, yes! You are Suming, right? You must've really ticked the Queen off for her to make you do something so humiliating…"
Gritting his teeth slightly, he sighed inwardly, not letting his expression slip.
"Yes, that is… correct. But I would prefer you call me Awakened Sunless now. Please?"
"Of course! Come on now, let's not keep the big boss waiting."
Doing his best to ignore Seishan's snickering, Sunny stepped forward, allowing Saint Mara to place a hand on his shoulder.
Feeling the pull of traveling between worlds, he-
"Hm?"
It abruptly stopped, causing all three of them to frown.
"Ah, right. Suming had that weirdly elusive soul, didn't she?"
Without warning, Mara pulled him close, wrapping her arm around his neck, causing him to yelp.
"You-"
Sunny heard the sound of running water.
-oh…"
Looking around, he saw that he was in Ravenheart. Streams of water ran in channels beneath him, a seemingly never-ending amount of it coming from the Gateway not too far away.
"We're here, so I'll be going now. Good luck, Awakened Sunless!"
Slapping him on the back, Saint Mara sunk into the ground and vanished.
"...Thanks."
Slowly glancing at Seishan, he asked:
"Why is she even here? I thought she lived in a different city."
A new trio of Saints had emerged in the Song Clan about a month ago too, so it wasn't like Mara was the only Transcendent around anymore. The princess met his gaze for a moment before turning and heading for a nearby hallway.
"She was just in the area, and she knows you. I… didn't think mother would tell her that though. It's…"
Seishan trailed off, unable to stop her laughter.
"You…"
Sunny was tempted to say something, but remembering the fact that he'd kept her waiting, he decided to say nothing. Instead, they walked together through the cold halls of the Jade Palace.
"Nervous?"
He shrugged slightly.
"A little."
How could he not be? Today was the first day Awakened Sunless would be appearing in Ravenheart, after all. Seishan had insisted that it would be fine though, so he wasn't too worried. In fact, he hoped and prayed that everything went well, just so he could bury Song Suming once and for all. It was still an identity he could utilise from time to time of course, but he didn't want it to be the primary one he used to interact with the Song Clan.
"Actually, mother has been back for a couple days now."
Sunny's eyes widened slightly.
"Really?"
"Indeed. I'm not sure where she's been, but she needed to recuperate for a while, so do your best not to annoy her."
He slowly nodded.
"I'll keep that in mind."
His mind whirred, running through a couple scenarios of what the oncoming interaction might contain.
'Surely… surely she won't suddenly drop some ridiculous request on me, right? She knows I'm desperate…'
Sunny was no Sovereign, he had no real chance of getting Anvil to back off, not without massive preparation anyways. If wanted to deal with the King of Swords, he'd need the Raven Queen's help, and she knew that.
…But she also had to know that he could simply run off and hide in some corner of the world at any time, and if she ever made an enemy out of him, she'd come to sorely regret it someday.
Taking a deep breath, Sunny followed Seishan into the throne room.