The clicking of heels and scrunching of boots barred his path as Sunny froze abruptly.
'...Right.'
"Suming, you're back?"
Two familiar figures stopped him in a familiar corridor.
Sunny smiled helplessly, waving to them.
"Ah, hello you two."
His previous students, whom he hasn't seen in months now…
Eunbin and Revel faced him, having returned from the Winter Solstice as Awakened. With his time in the Nightmare, it had already been a month since then.
Eunbin returned his wave as Revel crossed her arms expectantly.
"So? Where have you been? Seishan wouldn't tell us."
Sunny shook his head.
"It's good to see you as well. And as for where I've been? Well, my last expedition in the Dream Realm didn't go so well, so I've only just returned today."
Revel did not seem to believe him, narrowing her eyes at his words.
"What happened? Were you out conquering CItadels or something?"
Sunny smiled weakly.
"Something like that. There were some problems on the way though, so I had to escape for a while. I'm back now though!"
Eunbin tilted her head at his words.
"Suming… Come to think of it, where do-"
"Can we please do this another time? I'm very tired, and I'd like to go home to rest."
'I've answered enough questions for today!'
The girls blinked.
"Oh, sorry…"
"Right… See you soon?"
Sunny nodded, inwardly sighing as he waved.
"Probably! Goodbye for now."
With a short wave, he briskly walked past them, doing his best not to make eye contact with anyone he passed. Avoiding the natural light and the glow of any Memory lanterns, he silently left the Jade Palace.
As a Master, he could control his essence enough so that he could use Gateways without actually anchoring himself to them, just as long as he focused when using it.
'Return to me.'
He called for his shadows, who were lazily hanging around just outside the palace, admiring the frozen obsidian coating its walls.
Jolting slightly, the lazy bastards returned one by one, rejoining their master.
Making it the Gateway, Sunny admired it for a moment. The murmur of running water filled the tranquil hall, with water cascading down the perfect white jade of the Gateway. The Gateway itself wasn't visible, with only a vague silhouette visible through the running water.
Standing before the sculpture, Sunny allowed it to pull him between worlds, making sure he didn't anchor himself in the process.
The world vanished for a moment as he felt himself return home. He'd already placed a tether back at his house, so he did not reappear next to the Dream Gate this time.
Otherworldly winds drifted throughout his basement as Sunny looked around, assessing the damage he had done earlier.
'Ah, damn…'
His eye twitched as he noticed the door of his sleeping pod embedded into the ceiling.
In a moment of rage, he'd destroyed the poor thing…
"Sorry."
Spreading his shadow sense outwards, he saw that the house was empty. Jet was still in the Dream Realm, and Nephis was still fast asleep. Glancing at his side, he saw her vague figure, shrouded in mist and the blue light of her sleeping pod.
Shaking his head, Sunny dismissed his disguise, tossing his clothes into the Covetous Coffer as he summoned the Puppeteer's Shroud. Having done that, he sighed then jumped towards the ceiling. Grabbing one of the support beams on the roof, he reached over and grabbed the door he'd stuck into the ceiling, yanking it out before turning his gaze to the hole it had made.
"Ah… do I even repair this?"
The ceiling was quite fortified, a mere gash in it wouldn't cause the upper floors to collapse. There was of course the problem of there being a hole in his roof, but who was gonna notice that?
"No one!"
The only people entering this place were Jet and him anyways, so he didn't care too much.
Silently dropping back to the ground, he inspected the damage he had made to the door and hinges.
"...No way I can repair this."
A massive footprint had been left in the center of the door where he had kicked it. The frame containing the window above it had also been bent out of shape, causing a large network of cracks to spread on the glass above.
"Damnation…"
The pod had cost him a fortune, and now it had been rendered near unusable. He'd have been more disappointed if he still needed to use sleeping pods, but as a Master, he could enter the Dream Realm at any time by just pulling on his tether.
'Still…'
He'd been planning on giving it to Jet! How was he gonna do that now? Her sleeping pod simply looked too uncomfortable, and given how much time she spent stretching after coming out of the Dream Realm… it was probably as uncomfortable as it looked.
'I'll just pay someone to repair it…'
Or perhaps one of the tools he'd pilfered from Nether's Tower would help?
'Later.'
He'd felt an incessant tapping on one of his shadow cores for a while now, and he was getting sick of it.
"Fine, fine… come out."
Solvane had refused to rest, instead tapping at the outer walls of the core she rested in, bothering him quite a lot.
'Gods, this woman… you can summon yourself you know!'
He barely placed any restrictions on her, and she could leave his soul at any time. Perhaps it was foolish of him, but Sunny knew more than anyone else that the more you tried to trap someone, the harder they'd try to escape.
And despite being given this freedom, Solvane did not make use of it. Instead, she decided she was better off annoying him until he relented.
With a smug laugh, Solvane emerged from the darkness, worm-like vines wriggling beneath the skin of her neck.
"Shadow…"
"Solvane."
Before his Shadow could speak, Sunny fell backwards, laying on the floor as he sighed tiredly.
Crouching down beside him, Solvane poked his face.
"Your… eyes…"
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"What about them?"
Now that he thought about it, didn't Ki Song mention something like that too?
Taking a mirror out of the Coffer, he looked at himself.
"...What are you on about?"
There was nothing. His eyes were normal. They were slightly darker than usual, but he guessed that was due to his Aspect evolving.
Solvane sighed.
"Try… looking… other way…"
'Other way..?'
Looking at himself again, he shifted his vision.
'What the…'
His eyes widened.
In his reflection, his pupils seemed to have a white slash running through them.
'Why…'
Why was that there? Where on earth did it come from?
Sunny blinked.
He tried thinking of every single thing that had happened in the past few days for such a thing to appear in his eyes.
'Aspect? No… Dreamcatcher? No… What is it… What is it…'
At the same time, Solvane poked his chest.
"Chest… too…"
Sunny frowned.
'Wait…'
His eyes and his chest?
'Not my chest…'
Rather, his heart.
Removing the top half of the Puppeteer's Shroud, Sunny looked at himself with his shadows.
"Oh."
The grievous scar he'd given himself while performing the ritual to obtain the Veil… it was still there.
'How did I not notice that earlier??'
He'd literally looked himself all over earlier!
Looking back, the scar had already been present all the way back then as well, he just hadn't paid it any attention.
'Well, I suppose I had better things to think about at the time.'
Sighing, he resummoned the top half of his armour.
"So? How did it look?"
Solvane nodded, smiling.
"Dis… tinguished..!"
Sunny fought to keep a smile off his face.
As creepy and gross as the scar looked, he did think it looked sort of cool… though he probably wouldn't want to tell the story of how he got it.
'The eyes though…'
That might be a problem down the line. Ki Song had noticed it right away, despite the fact that he had the Veil active at full strength currently.
'I suppose that's just not part of its abilities?'
It hid him from the world, it didn't hide his features. And by 'him', he meant his soul, since the Veil only shrouded his cores rather than his whole body.
Sunny sighed.
If someone notices the fact that Awakened Sunless and Song Suming have the same strange injury on their eyes…
He glanced at the jade bracelet Solvane was still wearing.
"Give me that for a moment."
Solvane nodded, flicking her wrist, sending the bracelet straight into his open palm.
Putting it on, Sunny tried looking at himself in the mirror once more.
'Aha!'
No strange white slash, nothing. Looking down, the scar on his chest was still present however.
'Well, I can just cover that with a shirt.'
The bracelet blocked any Aspects that could see through things like clothes and armour, so he wasn't too worried.
"Anyways, what do you want?"
Tossing the bracelet back into the Coffer, he lay back down, relaxing as he stared at the ceiling.
Solvane sat next to him on the cold floor, hugging her knees. Her usual tunic was gone now and she wore a nice looking suit instead, likely given to her by the Immortal Flame Clan.
Remembering the fallen clan, Sunny couldn't help but frown.
'I'll avenge you…'
"First… I will… tell you… what happened…"
His Shadow sighed.
"Cali… da… was… attacked…"
Sunny grimaced.
"Yeah… I figured."
There was simply no way she died by accident. He'd have to be a complete and utter moron to think that. And considering the fact that the vision he'd seen from the gloomy shadow had included a vision of the overturned PTV, his shadow must've been there as well, with Thrain likely bringing Nephis along as he rushed to help his clan head. And if Thrain and Nephis were there, Solvane had to be there as well.
"What did you see?"
"Explosion… wasn't… natural…"
With her Mystery Pryer attribute, Solvane could see more than most.
"I thought so as well. Modern vehicles aren't supposed to explode like that, even in terrible crashes."
The PTV Calida had used ran on spelltech. There was simply no fuel to ignite for the PTV to have exploded like that.
And given the deal he'd made with Ki Song, and the fact that only a certain group of people were targeting the Immortal Flame, it was obvious who the culprit was.
"Valor. They were the ones to do this. Did you see what the vehicle crashed into?"
"No… culprit… left…"
Sunny gritted his teeth.
It had been a hit and run too? What a joke.
From his position on the floor, he patted Solvane's back.
"Looks like we're going to have a couple people to kill."
His Shadow laughed, eager to comply.
He'd strike back this time. It was too little, too late, but still. He had to do something. He couldn't keep letting them get away with it.
'It'll be hard to infiltrate their compound.'
Valor had far more sorcerers than Song did. Their bases were heavily fortified, and were extremely difficult to break or sneak into.
'I'll have to target someone outside.'
"Who… will we… kill… Shadow..?"
Sunny took a deep breath, stretching.
"Ah, I don't know yet. I'll find someone."
Perhaps one of the Saints? Or a prominent Master? Or even an essential mundane?
He thought for a while, having already gotten a couple targets in mind.
"Shadow…"
Sunny turned to Solvane.
"Yeah?"
"What… happened… to… bird..?"
"..."
A shadow fell over his face.
"Shrike… died in battle. A certain sorcerer prevented me from dismissing them during battle, and they didn't make it out."
The basement went silent for a moment, feeling colder than usual.
"I… see…"
Solvane nodded.
"Bird… at… peace… now…"
Sunny turned his head away slightly.
"Uh huh… Is there anything else you want to mention? Because I'm going to sleep."
"Let's… go… hunting… tomorrow…"
"...Sure."
With that, Solvane stood up and left. Wandering off to do whatever it is that she did when she was bored.
Too lazy to even Shadow Step, Sunny fell asleep on the floor in his basement.
***
Tap… tap… tap…
Madoc silently tapped his finger against his desk.
He was staring solemnly at a file projected before him.
Name: Mordret.
Rank: Awakened.
Status: Alive.
Aspect: [Redacted].
Aspect Rank: [Redacted].
Location: Sanctuary of Noctis, Chained Isles.
Affiliation: [Redacted].
Madoc sighed.
'What to do… what to do…'
It was the file of his nephew, Mordret.
Not too long ago, he'd appeared within the Chained Isles, having completed his winter solstice and becoming an Awakened.
The only problem was the fact that he was far, far too young to have been infected by the Nightmare Spell. They had not seen such a case in years now. Ever since the siege capitals had been established, the absolute majority of Nightmare Spell cases had been on teenagers ranging from ages 16-19. And yet out of nowhere, his nephew had appeared, barely even a teenager yet already Awakened.
…And just last week, he'd been brought to meet his father.
'What a disaster.'
What the hell was wrong with Anvil? Uncle Jest had insisted time and time again that there was nothing wrong with the boy, and yet his brother just wouldn't believe it.
His poor nephew had been brought to meet his family, only to be shunned and run out almost immediately, having been sent straight back to where he came from.
He wanted to feel bad for him, he really did. But he was only the nominal head, the orders of his Sovereign were final. There was no room for sympathy, and no room for regret.
'I'll keep a couple spies near him, just in case.'
Signing the file, he sighed as he moved onto the next.
***
Sunny's eyes snapped open.
Groaning, he rolled over, trying to figure out what woke him up.
"Ugh… is that you, gloomy?"
Sure enough, it was. The thing he had been dreading had arrived.
Nephis was waking up. Thanks to the new senses granted to him by the Dreamcatcher, his shadow could feel the girl stirring in her sleep.
He'd thought hard about what he was going to say to her, and had come up empty handed. He simply had no clue what to say or do. He didn't even know how to approach her. Did he sit beside her on the bed and wait for her to wake up? Did he knock on the door and ask to be let in? Did he cook her breakfast and wait for her to come down?
'I don't know. I don't know. I don't know!'
He hadn't been this clueless on what to do for a long time now.
Falling into the shadows, Sunny appeared before her door. Downstairs, the shadows came to life, long tendrils of darkness began moving around, preparing breakfast. Outside, the sky was still dark, only the tiniest of hints of sunlight coming from beyond the horizon.
Standing in front of the door, Sunny hesitated.
He didn't know what to do. This type of thing… it was what he was the worst at.
Sunny stood silently for a while. He could already hear Nephis shifting against her blanket on the other side of the wall.
'What do I do?'
He clenched his fists.
'What do I…
"Sunny..?"
He froze, sucking in a sharp breath.
He'd been hesitating for so long that Nephis had already woken up completely.
"...Nephis."
With a single knock, he opened the door.
Quietly closing the door behind him, Sunny made his way over to her. He sat next to her, and the room was silent for a while.
"Did you hear my conversation with Thrain?"
Nephis was silent for a moment, sniffling.
"Y-Yeah."
Sunny clenched his jaw, his expression ugly. He had left the lights off just for this.
'Such a coward…'
"Nephis, I… I'm sorry. I wasn't there, and…"
"Did they really leave me..?"
Sunny froze.
…He couldn't lie to her, even if he wanted to.
"I… yes. Your grandmother decided that the best course of action was to leave you in my care."
He knew how she felt, he really did. To wake up… and suddenly, everything you had, and everyone you knew were just… gone.
"Why..?"
"Your clan… they couldn't survive without he-"
"No… why did grandmother have to die? Why..? Why, why-"
Her sniffles began devolving into choked sobs, her words unintelligible.
'Oh… oh gods…'
"Your grandmother, she… she…"
Sunny once more found himself having no idea what to do.
All he could do was show Nephis he was there for her.
Sunny offered her a hand, but instead of grabbing it she pulled him instead, hugging him tightly as she sobbed into his shoulder.
He froze for a moment, surprised by the sudden act. A second later though, he pulled himself together and returned the hug.
"Oh Nephis… I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
Nephis did not say anything in return.
He could feel an endless torrent of sorrow, grief, and loss coming from her shadow. The feelings were so vivid and intense that he almost thought that he himself was feeling them instead.
Lowering his head, he attempted something.
The raw grief coming from her shadow, he tried to subdue it.
'...Damnation.'
Nothing happened. Most likely due to the fact he couldn't manipulate living shadows. So instead, he attempted to soothe it rather than manipulate it directly.
Sunny thought of all the times he was at peace.
Avoiding any memories of his past life, he thought back to his Nightmare.
It had been terrible, sure, but it had its moments.
The time he had bathed in the Spring at the Sacred Grove, the time he had spent learning from Hope, the feeling of the wind against his face as he rode atop Shrike's back…
He tried to show those feelings to Nephis' shadow. He wasn't sure if he was imagining or not, but he could've sworn it was working.
Sunny hummed quietly as he softly patted Nephis' back.
"You'll be alright… this… this is the last time I'll let you get hurt. I promise."
He felt her grief subside slightly, but she still said nothing in return, continuing to sob.
Sunny was out of things to try, so he simply remained silent, allowing her to cry.
Perhaps that was the best he could've done.
***
After a long, long time, the crying stopped.
"Sunny…"
Still sniffling, Nephis looked at him with puffy eyes. The sun had risen now, and the room was bathed in light.
"Yes?"
"Will you teach me how to fight?"
Sunny smiled softly.
"Of course. I promised you, didn't I?"
'What a strong girl…'
It hadn't been that long, but her shadow was now shining with determination rather than drowning in grief.
Despite everything, she hadn't given up. Her will remained unbroken.
Sunny didn't know what kind of conclusion she came to in her mind, but she seemed… relatively alright. Had it been the Nephis he once knew… no doubt, flames would be burning within her irises. Even now, the passion that burned within her soul was clear as day.
Releasing him from her hug, Nephis sniffled one last time, wiping her face off.
"Can we go right no-?"
"Eat your breakfast first. And you need to shower and change. Gloomy will show you around."
"Okay…"
Nephis practically leapt out of bed, rushing downstairs to eat her food.
Sunny silently watched.
He knew. He knew it was most likely a front from Nephis. He knew she was probably only acting like this not to worry him. Despite the fact her feelings were genuine, the human mind was quick to trick itself into feeling better in times of great despair. It wasn't like he could do any better anyways. He had tried, but this was quite literally the thing he was the absolute worst at.
Downstairs, he heard some voices.
"Ah, Miss Solvane!"
"Child… how are… you… feeling..?"
"I'm alright!"
Solvane had been clumsily attempting to get the entertainment system working for the past hour to no avail. Luckily for her, Sunny had prepared food for her as well.
Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and made his way downstairs.