The cohort and the man in the mirror
Sunny falling in the sky below
"So… what's your favourite food?"
"Nothing in particular. Why?"
"Huh… You're here?"
"Ah… were you talking to that rock of yours again? I didn't mean to interrupt."
"Yes, but I was bored anyway. But don't you need essence to talk? In my situation I would prefer it if you'd share your insights on ways for me to survive."
"Well I don't have much more to say than last time so I guess we can just talk. What food do you enjoy?"
'What's wrong with this guy? Well I guess it helps alleviate the boredom'
"Waffles I guess"
"Waffles huh? Never heard of it. What's it like?"
'Who's never heard of waffles? Even outskirts kids know about it'
"It's a good pastry I guess, but do you live under a rock or something? How do you not know about waffles?"
"Ah I guess my peculiar childhood is to blame. Anyway, is it a standalone dish, or do you eat it with something else like honey or such?"
"Well you can eat it alone though I usually put in maple syrup. But now you're confusing me… What's honey?"
"Ah I would love to answer your question but I reached my limit it seems."
'This conversation was definitely weird.'
Jet during the 3rd nightmare
" Prince Mordret… I heard you wanted to kill your father and destroy Valor, is that right?"
" Ah Soul reaper Jet… it is exactly as you said."
"I see… and what will you do after that?"
"I guess only the future will tell. I'll have to settle my debt to my new family and search a way to reach that vile Dreamspawn."
"Well sounds busy but if you are free, would you consider joining the government? It's a great opportunity for you to discover the waking world and…"
Sunny who was listening to the conversation interrupted her:
"Jet! Are you cra… serious? Is the government running that low on human resources for you to consider recruiting him?"
" I mean the Antarctic campaign will surely bring a lot of Awakeneds and even some Masters but it's not everyday that you encounter a future Saint that plans on going rogue and abandons his legacy clan. Can you blame me? It can't hurt to give it a try."
"I promise you as someone that knows the guy, it's going to hurt, really hurt."
"You know that I hear you Sunless my friend?"
"Yes, I know. Anyway just tell her to forget that idea, we both know you would never work for the government. It's not like you care about the waking world. In fact I don't even know if the Dream realm even matters to you."
"Ah you know me too well Sunless. It was nice talking to you Soul Reaper but I'm afraid my goals don't exactly align with the offer you've extended me so I must refuse."
With that Mordret walked away to his room on the ChainBreaker. Jet sighed.
"Sunny when we're back I'll make a report on you for sabotaging the recruitment of a promising asset."
"I just saved the entire government from collapsing and that's how you're thanking me…"
Effie during the 3rd nightmare singing a lullaby to put Ling to sleep
Her baby had just drifted to a quiet sleep when Effie noticed the silent but inquisitive state coming from Mordret who was standing not too far from her.
"What? Never seen a young mom put her baby to sleep? Not that I'm surprised coming from you, your highness." She said with a mischievous grin.
"Oh no, not at all Athena. I was just contemplating how fascinating it was for humans to produce spawns of their own. You're only an Ascended Beast after all while it is an ability expected from at least tyrant class creatures"
"Huuh…you're weird you know that. Let's not be friends." Then after a slight pause something clicked in Effie's twisted mind. "If you're so intrigued by the process of making human babies, does that mean that you've never had the talk about the birds and the bees? "
Mordret looked at her with genuine confusion in his mirror eyes.
"Birds? Bees? Are those animals involved in some kind of custom I'm not aware of?"
"Oh.. I guess you wouldn't know. You see, your highness… when a man and a woman love each other very much… Wait no, with Doofus or Princess it was funny but with you it just gives me the creeps. No offence though." She thought for a bit then added: "You live with Seishan no? Or even better you know that enchantress Beastmaster. With their looks they surely know about it as well. Ask them to give you the talk about the birds and the bees. It's a must know story but it should be told by your close ones you know… and since your relationship with your first family is a bit rocky it's natural for your adopted one to fill the gaps, don't you think so?"
Mordret's eyes glowed with unfathomable interest hearing the huntress.
"You've picked my curiosity Athena. Such a shame that you're reluctant to share this story yourself but I'll make sure to ask the princesses for their version."
"Yes, their experience would surely enlighten you, your highness" Effie said, containing her laugh.
Kai who was just passing by and happened to hear the whole conversation apologetically looked at the sky and thought 'Seishan, I know we're not the best of friends but if you hear me I'm sorry.'
Nephis at the helm of the ChainBreaker during the 3rd nightmare
Mordret felt joyful. Not that anything particular happened but he was free to roam around the ship and he satisfied himself observing and studying the many decks, rooms and their different uses. Well his freedom cost him to be constantly monitored by a member of the cohort but he didn't mind. In fact, he felt amused by their wariness of him. However, approaching the last part of the ship he had not explored yet, the helm, he suddenly felt the heavy gaze of Sunny on his back. 'Well I suppose it's because of that Dreamspawn presence'. Indeed, Mordret had more or less figured out that Sunny's relationship with Nephis was of a different kind than with the rest of the cohort, however he couldn't precisely say how. 'Then let's take this opportunity to learn more' he thought while approaching Nephis.
"Mordret."
"Princess Nephis, or should I say Captain?"
"What do you want?"
"Oh me? Nothing, just hanging around I guess. But well since I'm here I might as well let you know about my observations. You see, when I quietly walk around there is always someone watching me which is I suppose fair given our past 'experiences'. However, I noticed that when I happen to get closer to your position… how do I say this? The shadows grow deeper and colder. I suppose I don't need to explain who causes that. However I'm curious about why this 'phenomenon' only occurs around you, Changing Star.
Not looking away from the helm's direction, Nephis' face remained emotionless if not from the imperceptibly small upward curl of the corner of her mouth.
"How should I know what Sunny is thinking?"
"How peculiar, I thought you were the one that knew him best among the members of this ship"
"If you're concerned with Sunny's thoughts of me, why don't you ask him directly?"
"Yes, maybe I will. But since you two seem to share a special bond I was meaning to ask what you thought about him as well"
There was silence for a few heartbeats as if some of the words Mordret used startled the ever stoic Changing Star. 'Interesting' the Prince of Nothing thought. Finally, Nephis said:
"He is m… a precious… friend."
"A precious friend that didn't follow you to Valor"
"Those are entirely different matters that don't concern you in the slightest." Nephis answered immediately.
At this moment, Sunny, who had stopped his weaving session to see what Mordret was up to (also a perfect reason to see Neph) , reached the two royalties. But that was the cue for Mordret to take his leave. Watching him go to the lower decks, Sunny asked:
"Was he bothering you Neph?"
"No, he was just curious I guess"
"About what?"
"Our bond"
Sunny looked surprised.
"The Shadow bond?"
"No, I meant to say our relationship"
Sunny looked even more surprised, and a bit flustered.
"Ah… I see." Then after a slight pause. "And what did you say?"
"Why? You're curious?" Nephis said in an uncharacteristic, teasing tone.
Sunny coughed then answered, pressured by his flaw.
"Yes, I guess I'm curious."
"So you are curious huh. Then I'm not telling."
"Wait why?"
Neph looked at him with a small smile and shrugged her shoulders slightly. Thinking about his own flaw, Sunny muttered something about her being unfair and quietly got back to his weaving, stealing glances of her on the way. However Nephis was still looking at him so when their eyes met again Sunny got flustered and hurried his pace. 'Damnation! Screw Mordret! What did she tell him anyway…?'
Cassie the first day on the ChainBreaker after the Battle of Twilight
Today Mordret was quite joyful. He finally escaped this accursed city after about a year of playing cats and mouse with his scurrilous corrupted future self in the mirror realm. Even better, the nightmarish version of himself was incinerated in Changing Star's Soul Sea so he didn't even need to be wary of his surroundings in his personal domain even if the knowledge of having another potential enemy immune to his aspect ability was still unpleasant news. Anyway, the cohort was now totally assembled so their chances of clearing the nightmare were high and even if Mordret would never admit it himself he was satisfied with the different members and acknowledged their abilities, especially Sunless and the Dreamspawn. However one person bothered him more than he should have let them: Cassia, Song of the Fallen, the blind seer. Of course, their former experience in the Night Temple didn't play in favor of a reconciliation. He tricked her and Sunless, she tricked him twice in the same fight and then they challenged the second nightmare together where he slaughtered every human close to her vessel. Would Mordret have killed her at that time if the opportunity presented itself? Well he was not sure. He was angry, sure, and her flaw making her immune to part of his aspect was downright insolent, but he acknowledged that her future seeing ability was useful. Anyway at that time, he brushed those thoughts aside since the opportunity never presented itself. However, fate once again brought them in the heart of a nightmare together, so the cornelian dilemma loomed once again. 'No', he thought, 'this time her five other companions are much stronger, I cannot risk fighting them this time around, especially considering the difficulty of the nightmare and the petty reason that led me to consider conflict. Still I should avoid her, to keep me restrained.' And so Mordret decided to spend his first day on the fantastic ship idly with the sole objective of avoiding a blind girl. It couldn't be easier, could it?
Well it was in fact difficult. More precisely, it was because Cassie was also angry. She just survived the tactical nuke her best friend launched on the city she was in and that same best friend didn't ever bother to check if she survived but instead instantly went to check on her almost boyfriend. Rationally Cassie was aware that Nephis lost her humanity when using her aspects and that Sunny was her only tether to claim it back. That is to say, she was aware that her anger was not justified. However it couldn't be helped. Moreover, she had the perfect target to focus her anger on. So she chose to bully Mordret when she noticed how hard he tried to avoid her. Every time he decided to go somewhere on the ship, Cassie would seemingly randomly appear in that same place for perfectly justified reasons: needing to talk to someone, checking the runes of the ship, tidying up the ship and requesting his help for that… Thus Mordret would need to flee every time as well. During the meals, she would always manage to get the seat besides Mordret just to make him uncomfortable, sometimes even asking him to serve her something pretending that she couldn't see. Quickly, Mordret reached the limits of his patience and snapped with his characteristic polite aggressiveness.
" You, you're doing it on purpose don't you?"
"Doing what? I don't understand."
"Don't pretend to be dumb"
"I'm not pretending anything"
"So how do you explain that every time I walk somewhere you happen to be in that same place and order me around as if you saw me and followed me just to bother me?"
"I can't see, I'm blind"
"Don't play with me you calamitous seer"
'This conversation isn't going anywhere. Should I kill her right here? No, that must be her ploy. But why would she set me up? They need my strength to clear the nightmare and Sunless and the Dreamspawn don't seem to be involved in her plan…
Ah I understand now, she's relieving her petty anger because her divination doesn't work on me anymore since the end of the second nightmare. That's the only rational reason I can see.'
"I see, so you're angry about my plan to foil you divination. It's frustrating, isn't it? To not be able to use your aspect on someone"
"What are you talking about?" Cassie said, mimicking genuine confusion.
"I'm talking about the anti-divination attribute of mine that I gained in our second nightmare of course"
"You gained something like that?"
"How peculiar, you seem surprised. Didn't you know?"
"Uh…no. Why would I?"
"Did you see me in your visions?"
"Nope…"
"Ha that's proof that my pl…"
"… because I don't divine your fate, that would be a waste of time"
"… what?"
"You didn't think that I would bother to use my aspect on you when I'm friends with Sunny and Nephis, but also in charge of the fire keepers and a war advisor for Valor, did you? Well if you did, it's honestly a bit sad. There are other ways to gain a woman's attention, you know."
And just like that, Cassie walked out of the room they were in, leaving Mordret stunned for a few seconds. This little outburst of her was enough to satisfy her passing anger so she kept respecting his space for the rest of the nightmare. On his part, Mordret carried a deep burn in his soul for the rest of the nightmare until the shenanigans of a treacherous shadow made his memory blurry
Kai in Ravenheart at one point during the four years before the domain war
Kai was exhausted. He had been stationed in Ravenheart as a representative of the government for months now. That in itself wasn't that tiring however it meant that he sometimes was requested by the Song Princesses to help out on certain missions, and the last one was especially difficult. In fact, he was so tired that he didn't even find the strength to pull on his tether to return to his home in the Waking World and instead chose to rest in the guest room he was offered in the Jade Palace. After a quick nap, he went to his bathroom to start his long but entirely necessary skincare routine. He had an image to uphold after all! While in the middle of applying a local ointment that supposedly worked wonderfully, Kai's reflection in the mirror stopped its motion and looked at his dirty hands inquisitively. Taken aback by his reflection sudden rebellion, Kai let out a stifled gasp then immediately calmed himself understanding what happened. 'Mordret!'
The reflection smiled watching Kai's reaction then said:
"Ah Nightingale, good evening! I hope I'm not intruding."
"Mordret…What do you want?"
"Such coldness… But it warms my heart that my presence still affects you to this extent." The mirror wraith said while laughing.
Sure, Kai was surprised by the Prince of Nothing's unannounced visit but he was not the same as before, he knew that he could hold his ground in a fight and he was still wearing the Valor pendant that somehow countered Mordret's aspect.
"I'm not afraid of you."
"But why would you be? We're friends."
Kai felt that it was a lie. Well, in truth he didn't need his flaw to figure that out.
"No we're not. And stop pretending that we are, you know I see through lies."
"Well then at least we're brothers-in-arms."
Kai stared at his reflection silently. That was not a lie but it still felt like one.
"Former brothers-in-arms then"
Kai could accept that.
"Get to the point Mordret, what do you want?"
"And here I thought we could have a friendly conversation while reminiscing about the past"
'Weird. He's not lying'
"You want to talk about the past?"
"Oh yes I do. You see, since the end of our third nightmare, some of my memories feel skewed, incomplete. It was hard to pick up on that since it seemed I inexplicably kept forgetting that I was trying to remember, but in the end I managed to deduce that this happened so now I remember forgetting my attempts at remembering." After a slight pause he added: "Seeing your lack of reaction, it seems that this struggle of mine does ring a bell, doesn't it?"
Indeed, Kai knew exactly what he was talking about. While he himself didn't make those efforts to remember, Cassie had, and she shared her theories about a man-shaped void in the tapestry of fate.
[Cassie? Is it okay to talk to him about that? Maybe he has figured something out himself that could be useful.]
[We can try but I honestly doubt his intentions.]
[We'll see…]
Sighing slightly, Kai looked at the mirror then explained:
"Yes I'm aware of what you mentioned. It's something that not only concerns the third nightmare clearing cohort but also some other people too with no clear connection to us. Cassie calls it the 'man-shaped void'. We still haven't figured out the cause of it though."
"The 'man-shaped void' huh? So you're saying that someone, not something, is missing from our memories."
"It appears to be the case."
"Well it's interesting because I managed to pinpoint almost exactly at which part of my life the memories are struggling. I can now only assume that it's the moment I met this person for the first time."
"And when was that exactly?"
"A month or two before your calamitous oracle set me free. In fact, you should be glad we're having this conversation because otherwise I would have stayed on my conclusion that she was the one who messed with my memories."
[He still seems to hate you. What did you even do to him?]
[Uuh…A bit of this, a bit of that but not much.]
[I see. You're scary sometimes Cas. We're talking about that psychopath Mordret you know.]
[I don't understand what you're talking about.]
"Anyway Mordret, I'm….Uh…pleased to have been of help to you but I need my reflection back to finish this skincare routine of mine…"
"Ah, of course I understand. See you soon Nightingale." The reflection winked (some people would sacrifice their family to see Kai do that) then it became lifeless again.
'Did this bastard use my secret art on me?'
On the other part of the DreamRealm in the Ivory Tower, a blind seer blushed slightly at the sight of something she would sacrifice her mother for. 'I forgive you Mordret. Just a bit'.