Sunny and Song's forces left the scene as the government's cleanup crew began pouring in.
Glancing at the distant gate below as he left on an airship, Sunny saw a group of Masters led by Master Cor standing by it.
And as they flew back to the Song Clan's compound, Sunny tried his best to ignore the hushed whispers of the people around him.
"...Just where did the Queen find such a talent?"
"The new princess is truly fearsome…"
"Did you see how many Fallen she slaughtered? It was incredible…"
Sunny continued to stare out of the window as if he heard nothing.
'Please…! Please stop calling me princess!'
He felt an elbow on his side as Seishan, her face now clean, whispered to him with a wry grin:
"Hear that? It seems you are truly fearsome!"
"...I did hear it."
Sunny did not turn to face her, continuing to rest his chin on his hand as he stared at the city below.
A tinge of red was on his face, hidden by the dark shadows shrouding his delicate face.
***
"I hear you did quite well, Suming."
A puppet stood before him, a small grin lining its face.
But despite the teasing smile on its face, Sunny felt that the Queen was in a somber mood.
"I suppose I did. There wasn't much I could do against a Corrupted Terror though."
"Bah, I wouldn't worry about that. No way Madoc was going to let his precious new recruits face that Gate Guardian all on their lonesome."
"Speaking of Madoc… How come he's here? I thought Valor was still heavily expanding in the Dream Realm."
"Hm, you're a sharp one. Well, I suppose he was just taking a break?"
Sunny frowned slightly, not buying it at all.
'Has their expansion already ended? Surely not...'
"Whatever. Why did you want to speak to me anyways?"
Sunny felt a glance from his side, Seishan giving him a hard look for his blatant disrespect.
The puppet laughed slightly at his brazen attitude, not caring in the slightest.
"Well, we've found suitable armour for you, that's all. Seishan, give it to him."
Feeling a soft hand on his shoulder, Sunny felt a memory being transferred into his soul.
[You have received a Memory.]
Sunny nodded, hoping dearly that it wasn't another dress.
"Thank you."
That seemed to be all the Queen wanted to say, as her puppet seemed to grow vacant as it made its way to a random storage room in the compound.
Turning to Seishan, Sunny curiously asked:
"How come we never meet her in person anymore?"
Of course, Sunny knew a Sovereign's time was extremely precious and they couldn't always be meeting with their subjects. He had only asked it to probe Ki Song's current activities, hoping Seishan wasn't shrewd enough to catch on just yet.
"Mother is extremely busy, most of her time is spent either in the Death Zone near Ravenheart or helping our clan conquer more citadels. In fact, the day you and her met was the first time she'd been back in several months."
Sunny was slightly confused by the statement.
"...Your mother returned for the first time in several months… and wanted to meet me?"
Seishan seemed to belatedly realise she was giving away too much, and came up with an excuse.
"Mother… is quite lonely these days. She hasn't had friends for a long time now… I think when you said you weren't going to be her servant, it actually made her really happy."
"...Oh."
Sunny could not help but doubt that statement.
A Sovereign wanted to personally meet an Awakened recommended by her daughter because she was lonely?
Sunny wasn't sure if it was true or not, but if it was, it most certainly wasn't the whole truth.
'Does she suspect I bear Shadow's Lineage?'
It was a strong possibility… Asterion had also thought the same when he saw him, after all.
'What a mess.'
Sighing, Sunny turned away.
"I'm leaving now."
And as he walked away, he heard a slight snicker.
"Goodbye… Suming."
He did not react at all and only kept walking.
***
After dismissing his disguise, Sunny was currently walking home as he inspected his new memory.
Memory: [Abyssal Drapes.]
Memory rank: Ascended.
Memory tier: IV.
Memory description: [An order of assassins gathered beneath the grand hall of a ghastly cathedral, wreathed in darkness and concealed by veils. For every order given, a grand tyrant fell. And for every tyrant that had fallen, a single black knife was found lodged in their backs.]
Memory enchantments: [Assassins Approach], [Consecrated Cloak], [Black Knife].
[Assassins Approach] Enchantment Description: [The wielder's attacks grow more powerful when striking unsuspecting enemies.]
[Consecrated Cloak] Enchantment Description: [This Memory is draped with a dark cloak, granting the user increased stealth and agility.]
[Black Knife] Enchantment Description: [The faint mist surrounding the armour can be used to turn the user invisible.]
'Invisibility?! This is made for stealth it seems…'
Sunny entered his Soul Sea as he walked, inspecting the armour's physical form.
Sleek, grey armour appeared around his body, lightly glowing sapphires appearing on some of its plates. Looking at the gauntlets, Sunny inspected its sharp fingertips and slim frame, making it resemble fabric more than steel. A black cloak appeared, covering much of his shoulder and chest as it trailed alongside his back with a hood that covered most of his face. Steel faulds protected his abdomen and dark mist shrouded most of his form, making his figure appear somewhat hazy.
'No helmet?'
Shame…
Still, Sunny was happy with his new Memory. And it was definitely much better than the other options, so he would take it!
Arriving home, Sunny sighed as he made his way upstairs to take a shower. Neither Jet or Aria had returned yet, Jet being part of the cleanup crew and Aria being stuck with another task from Valor.
Summoning his new armour, Sunny inspected it in the mirror.
'Not bad.'
Activating the Black Knife enchantment, Sunny vanished.
Studying his reflection, Sunny noticed a soft blue glow shrouding his figure as if it were a veil.
'So it's not complete invisibility… Still, it's quite good.'
Dismissing the armour, Sunny stepped into the shower.
***
Some hours later, Sunny was relaxing on his sofa, inspecting a stone thunderbolt in his hand.
'...What am I supposed to do with this?'
He had tried sending his essence into it, but nothing had happened.
He had tried spilling his blood on it, but still, nothing happened.
He had tried turning it into a Memory, but that failed too.
And for a while now, he had been considering whether or not he should just break it open. The only thing stopping him from testing that theory was that breaking it open might just dissolve or break the thing inside. Whatever that thing was.
Sighing, Sunny tossed it back into the Covetous Coffer.
'Maybe I'll find out in the Ebony Tower.'
There was another statue of the Storm Goddess there after all.
Pushing the thoughts out of his mind for now, Sunny entered his basement and began to weave.
…Several hours later, he began to refine his essence.
…And another several hours later, he began to weave again.
In the early light of the morning, an exhausted looking Jet returned.
After exchanging a few words with Sunny, she retired to the Dream Realm.
As he was refining his essence, Sunny focused on the perception of one of his shadows.
"Calida."
Immortal Flame's widow jolted before looking around.
"Sunless?"
She was currently preparing for the day, with Nephis still fast asleep in her bedroom.
As the Gate had been contained, those who weren't in its immediate vicinity returned to their homes.
"Yesterday, as you were evacuating, an Ascended attacked you."
Now looking at the human shaped shadow she the voice coming from, Sunny saw deep unease settle on her features.
"An Ascended?"
"Indeed, one of Valor's."
The old woman sucked in a breath.
"What happened to them?"
"The Dreamspawn killed them."
Calida nearly dropped the plate she was holding when she heard what he said.
"That… that guy? Why?"
"...I believe it is because of The Fire."
Her head now lowered, the old woman heaved a deep sigh.
"So you do know."
"I do. And I believe Valor won't be sending Ascended anymore. Instead, you must watch out for more underhanded tactics, things like poisoned food, car bombs, and snipers."
Of course Sunny did not know too much about mundane assassins, but he had seen many scenes of the attempted assassinations of Nephis' childhood in her nightmares, giving him plenty of examples.
Her gaze now cold and undaunted, Calida nodded.
"Alright. Perhaps it is time to switch locations."
"Do what you must. Just don't go too far, it's inconvenient for me to travel too much."
Calida nodded again, reaching for her communicator as the human shaped shadow slowly glided away.
In the darkness of his home, Sunny continued refining his essence.
***
A week had passed, and Nephis had moved homes. Her house was now located in a neighbourhood near Sunny's, with it only being only a couple kilometers away. And one day, Calida had brought Nephis to visit Sunny at the request of the young girl.
"Is this your house Sunny? I thought you lived in a dark palace or something!"
The girl curiously ran around, inspecting Sunny's house as if he had hidden treasure somewhere. Which he actually did, it was just that it was hidden within his soul instead of his house.
"Well my house is usually dark, but I don't live in a palace. Not yet anyways. The last time I visited a palace I only went after killing their king, you know? That guy was just so rude!"
Nephis giggled as she inspected his cupboards, searching for anything interesting.
Jet was currently at work, which Sunny thought was a shame as he would've loved for the two to meet. Aria had already been sent back to the Dream Realm as well, but not before she had given Sunny the necessary information she had gathered.
Calida also curiously looked around, letting Nephis roam around unbothered.
"Sunless… You seem to have a roommate?"
"Yeah, a friend of mine lives with me. Why, did you think I lived alone?"
"...Well you do seem like the type."
Sunny scoffed, turning away.
"Well just so you know, I am actually a very well connected individual with plenty of friends!"
Hearing that, Nephis turned.
"Really?! Do you know any princesses?"
Sunny immediately choked on his own saliva at her question.
Regaining his bearings, Sunny tried to answer without giving anything away.
"Princesses? Of course I know a few! One of them showed up to my house once and now she just won't stop bugging me!"
Nephis laughed as she continued roaming around his home, not doubting his statement for even a moment.
Now Calida was looking at him strangely, though.
'...I probably shouldn't have mentioned that.'
Clearing his throat, Sunny walked towards Nephis.
"You won't find any treasure searching like that, kid."
"What?! Why not?"
"Because a true venerated Awakened like myself would never make such an amateurish move! All of my treasure is hidden within my soul, obviously!"
"Whaaat?! Lemme see!"
"No way!"
"Let me!"
"Nope!"
"Then what kind of treasure do you have?"
"Hm lets see… I have a divine lightning bolt made from stone!"
"What?! Let me see!"
"Not happening!"
Truthfully, Sunny saw no reason to not show Nephis to bolt, but he just wanted to mess with her a bit. He wondered if the Nephis of the past had ever gotten the chance to throw a childish tantrum, or if she had already become like the silent and stoic woman he had known.
Laughing slightly, Sunny decided to show her something else.
"I won't show you my treasures…"
"Why why why?!"
"Because I'm going to show you something way cooler."
"Really?!"
"Yeah, watch."
Summoning a memory, sparks of dark essence began coalescing.
A few seconds later, a small lantern cut from black stone had appeared in Sunny's hand.
"A… lantern? That's totally lame!"
"No no… this isn't just any lantern. This was a lantern used by the Shadow God himself you know!"
"What?! A god?! What does it do?"
"Watch."
Activating its enchantment, all of the light within the room was immediately devoured. Commanding the shadows to not take it too far, only a slight coldness descended in the room as Sunny prevented any ancient shadows from leaving the lantern.
Deactivating the enchantment, Sunny saw Nephis waving her hands in front of her face with an amazed smile.
"Wow! I couldn't even see my own hands! Show me another memory, Sunny!"
"Alright, alright… this one…"
Sunny began to show her many of the memories he thought she'd find cool as they sat on his sofa together.
A few minutes later, Calida whispered to the human shaped shadow that lay on the ground near her.
"Sunless, can I leave Nephis with you for the day?"
Sunny stared at her scandalously.
"You're making me babysit?"
"Will you?"
Sunny paused for a moment.
"...Fine."
"Thank you, I have many errands to run today with the new home and all."
***
Calida silently left, unnoticed by Nephis.
Standing outside, she heaved a long sigh as she leaned against a wall.
'Do I tell him?'
A while back, Thrain had used his Aspect to interrogate Sunless, making sure he was telling the absolute truth about his motives. Pushing a bit further, he also made sure the young man wasn't under any hexes nor was he experiencing any memory loss.
The true goal of it though... was to look through some of his memories.
They had never doubted his words, and Thrain's questions were only asked to prime his thoughts for his ability's activation.
What he saw though...
'I can see why you panicked.'
Thrain had seen a vision of Nephis, only she seemed to be much older, and had silver hair. His first thought had been that it was what Sunless had seen when he peered into the future, only to realise that in the vision... he was holding her hand, and the look they were sharing was...
Naturally, he had assumed the worst.
After Sunless had left that day, Thrain had informed her of everything. Having heard what he saw, Calida had come to a chilling realisation.
'He didn't see the future... he's from it.'
Sunless did not seem like that type of person, and Thrain had said the memory was clouded with grief.
'To think such a thing is even possible. Time travel...'
Then again, throughout her long years, she'd seen stranger. She'd seen the world go from a miserable and mundane one to this fantastical world filled with magic and monsters. Was time travel such an improbability? Sunless probably wasn't even the first person to do it.
Composing herself, Calida sighed in slight worry as she left.
***
Dismissing the latest memory he was showing Nephis, Sunny stood up.
"Hey! I wanna see more!"
"Aren't you hungry?"
"...I am."
"Do you want a delicious meal or do you want to see more memories?"
Nephis did not respond, only pouting silently.
As Sunny made his way to the kitchen to prepare a meal, he started speaking again.
"You know, I met this really nice lady who could turn into a kid once…"
As he was cooking, Sunny began to tell her about the history of the Tomb of Ariel, and of Weave, Ananke, and Twilight.
Radiant curiosity shone in her eyes as she listened to Sunny speak, she had a great interest in anything to do with the Dream Realm after all, as many children did.
Telling her about how the people of Weave had once lived, how the people of Fallen Grace survived even such difficult times, and how brave the warriors of Twilight were.
Nephis never stopped paying rapt attention to his stories, taking every detail in.
Now sitting with Sunny, she was eating a meal with him.
She smiled at Sunny gratefully, enjoying her meal and Sunny's tall tales and adventures.
Such a sight warmed Sunny's heart, the coldness that had been lurking within his mind dissipating bit by bit.
And at the end of the day, Sunny handed a fast asleep Nephis over to Thrain, who had come to pick her up.
Now smiling slightly at Sunny, Thrain spoke.
"Thank you… I…. I won't ever forget the things you've done for us, Sunless."
"Don't mention it. Just make sure my name isn't heard by anyone besides you two."
Bidding farewell to Thrain, Sunny silently sent the lazy shadow into Nephis' shadow.
Watching the PTV drive off, Sunny entered his home with a small smile.
***
Another week had passed, and Sunny was enjoying a nice meal with Jet and Aria at a
popular barbeque chain.
Aria curiously looked at Sunny and Jet as they both devoured strips of meat.
"So are you two like… a thing?"
With a mouthful of some delicious pork, Sunny looked at her curiously.
"A thing? I'm a human."
Jet also looked up at her, slightly confused.
"Same here."
Aria looked at the two, exasperated.
"You… I'm asking whether or not you two are dating!"
The three were silent for a moment, flabbergasted expressions on both Sunny and Jet's faces.
Sunny thought to himself:
'Dating? I like Jet a lot, but it's purely platonic…'
In fact, the thought of them dating sort of irked Sunny. If anything, Jet was like his sister.
And as they turned to face each other, Sunny saw that she seemed to think the same.
Both of them proceeded to turn to Aria, their voices in sync.
"No way."
"Not happening."
Aria seemed genuinely surprised by their statement.
"But… you two live together?"
Sunny and Jet turned to face each other again, their expressions equally confused.
'Is there some sort of rule saying that when a man and woman live together they need to be dating or something?'
Turning back to Aria, they once again spoke in sync.
"What about it?"
"Can't we?"
Aria stared at them, her eyes twitching slightly.
"...Forget it."
The conversation was quickly forgotten about, the three immediately going back to devouring the food around them without any manners.
After a while, the three were eventually kicked out for eating too much, much to Sunny's dismay.
"Why call it All-You-Can-Eat if you're gonna kick us out for eating too much?"
Of course, Sunny could've told them they were Awakened, or told Aria to dismiss her disguise and use her fame, but…
Sunny did feel like they might've eaten a bit too much.
Looking back at the table they sat at, the three laughed heartily.
The stacks of plates they left behind were nearly three meters tall!
***
And a week later, Sunny was called into Ravenheart.
Wearing dull silver armour that was covered in dark mist, Sunny spoke as his cloak and auburn
locks danced in the wind.
"What is it now?"
Seishan turned to him, snow clinging to her raven hair.
"Mother has requested that you defend Ravenheart."
"...From what?"
"A Fallen Tyrant is currently approaching the outskirts, and in a few days it will arrive. Most of our forces are out conquering citadels currently, so it's up to me and you."
"Just the two of us are going to fight a Fallen Tyrant? Are you mad?"
"Sunless."
"...Fine. But don't blame me if you die."
Sighing, Sunny followed Seishan to where the Tyrant was predicted to approach from.
"Why are we already here? Didn't you say it would only come in a few days?"
"Actually, it's already less than a day away. But most of the time Tyrants send their minions first, so we're counting on that."
"Whatever."
Sunny summoned the Midnight Shard, leaning on it as he passively refined his essence, ignoring the biting wind.
'This is an opportunity.'
Seeing as most forces weren't in Ravenheart supposedly, Sunny could send his shadows and investigate the Jade Palace. It was definitely a risk to infiltrate the heart of a Sovereigns domain, but the Sovereign wasn't present currently.
As long as Sunny was careful, he most likely wouldn't get noticed.
Sending four of his shadows into the Jade Palace, Sunny began to map the impossibly complex maze within.
…Several hours later, a voice snapped him out of it.
"Sunless! They're here!"
Sunny's eyes shot open, staring at the endless plains of snow before him.
He didn't seem to see anything…
But then, he felt movement through the shadows.
Hundreds upon hundreds of small white rabbits were currently leaping through the snow towards them, every single one of them an Awakened beast or stronger.
Sunny was… not impressed. It was nowhere near as terrifying as something like the Heart of Darkness, or even the Devouring Cloud.
…And a couple hours later, their invaders had been repelled. Not a single rabbit had passed them, as Seishan seemed to have a memory that attracted their fury.
Sighing in boredom, Sunny leaned back on his sword as he waited for their next attack.
He had not found anything within the Jade Palace yet, as the place was simply massive. Thousands upon thousands of passages that seemed to lead nowhere were placed in every direction, Sunny had no idea what to even look for. He had found many rooms where legions of terrifying puppets had been stored, but besides that, he had found nothing. No treasuries, no secret rooms, nothing.
…And on the next day, another herd of rabbits descended upon them, with quadruple the amount from last time showing up.
This time, Sunny had to augment himself with shadows, as well as using the Soul Serpent as a blade as he needed Soul Reaver to keep his essence topped up.
Seishan seemed to struggle a bit more than him however, as more and more bodies piled up before her she seemed to pant more heavily. Her power did not diminish, in fact it had only grown more ferocious, but in turn her focus seemed to be fading.
…And on the third day, the Tyrant had arrived.
Instead of the white fur its minions had, the Tyrant had blackened ash-like fir, as well several twisting horns coming out of its head, its red eyes burning with fury.
Both Sunny and Seishan rushed forward, tearing apart the thousands of rabbits surrounding the Tyrant. Not a single rabbit seemed to be able to bite Sunny, while their attacks scraped uselessly against Seishan's grey hide.
A loud crash was heard before them as large plumes of snow kicked up.
Seeing its minions dying uselessly, the Tyrant descended upon them.
Seishan moved to intercept it as Sunny vanished, covered in a thin blue veil.
A shrill screech echoed throughout their surroundings as the Tyrant attacked the now transformed Seishan, its power completely unleashed.
Seishan fought furiously, barely able to defend herself against the endless onslaught as countless rabbits pounced on her, the Tyrant continuously delivered terrible blows to her body.
After knocking Seishan a decent distance away, the Tyrant lowered its head, charging at her as it prepared to impale her with its mighty horns.
And somewhat foolishly, Seishan planted her feet and received the charge headon, grabbing the horns just as they were about to impale her in an attempt to stop the Tyrant's charge.
As her feet slid across the snow, the Tyrant suddenly shrieked in pain.
Its charge slowing to a near halt, the Tyrant legs were shaking violently.
A massive cut had opened on its stomach, all of its insides spilling out, its steaming intestines melting the snow around it.
And as it flailed around in an attempt to keep its organs inside, a figure outlined by the fallen snow landed on its head, and a second later a blade penetrated its skull.
[You have slain a Fallen Tyrant, Great Rabbit.]
'Seriously? Great Rabbit?'
Of course, Sunny had been the one to kill it, a single blow destroying its brain.
With four shadows now augmenting him, he had been able to deal with a Fallen Tyrant with some effort.
Seishan however, did not seem to be faring so well, her body now bloody as she bent to the ground panting heavily.
Sunny glanced at her with a worried look.
'...She's not gonna die on me, is she?'
Leaping off the now dead Tyrant's body, Sunny immediately rushed towards her, destroying the rabbits that were about to swarm her defenseless body.
Looking around, Sunny saw that without the Tyrant, the rest of the rabbits had now begun to devour each other, a chaotic mess of blood and guts were being strewn everywhere.
With a flick of his hand, the blood on his sword scattered as he dismissed Serpent.
Checking on Seishan's wounds, Sunny found some severe lacerations, but nothing fatal. She seemed to have collapsed from overexertion rather than blood loss. Sunny did not know what the Beast God's lineage did, but her bleeding had nearly stopped already.
Sunny quickly dressed the more worrying looking wounds, before carefully picking up Seishan's unconscious body, he threw her over his shoulder as he walked back to Ravenheart, doing his best to ignore her ragged breathing and pounding heart.
'What was Ki Song thinking? Sending only two Awakened to stop a whole Tyrant…'
Sunny's gaze darkened.
'She'd risk the life of her daughter just to test my strength? Surely not… Then again, that was an absurdly weak Fallen Tyrant. Did she lead it here just to give Seishan a chance to fight?'
From Sunny's impression of Ki Song, even if she didn't openly show it, she cared extremely deeply about her daughters. Perhaps the only reason she didn't openly show it was to not expose such a blatant weakness.
Then what could have been the purpose of this?
Sighing, Sunny slowly continued his trot back, his now blood-stained cloak dancing in the wind.
***
Arriving back at Ravenheart, Sunny handed Seishan off to some healers as he made his way to his personal quarters within Ravenheart.
As he wasn't here much, the Queen had only given him a small room with a simple bed and amenities. Luckily, however, there was a enchanted barrel with steaming water within it, serving as a bath, so Sunny dismissed his armour and got in to wash all the blood off himself.
Stepping out of the shower with a fur coat wrapped around himself, Sunny made his way to the closet that had been prepared for him. Within, there were plenty of outfits resembling the one that they had given him on the first day, with an assortment of blacks, greys, and whites present within the closet.
Mercifully, not a single dress was present.
Picking out some clothes, Sunny looked resentfully at some of the more risky outfits.
'I goddamn hate it here…'
Putting on a comfortable pair of pants, Sunny forewent wearing a shirt as he was about to sleep.
Dismissing his disguise, Sunny jumped into bed. Sure, he ran a risk of someone coming in and discovering his secret identity, but he preferred to take that risk if it meant he at least had some time to dress as himself.
Laying in bed, Sunny stared at the ceiling for a long time.