Sunny moved towards the man before he woke up with a jolt, startling Smryin, whose hand hovered near his shoulder to wake him up.
"Lad? I was just about to wake you up. We have a customer,"
Sunny looked around with a frown and saw that he was in the back of the kitchen, sitting in a chair with a table in front of him.
"What do you mean you were about to wake me up? Where were you?"
Smyrin looked at him, confused.
"Well, you were asleep, did you forget that I let you take a nap? And I was at the cash register waiting for customers to show, as I said before you went to sleep."
Sunny looked around again and shook his head, confusion still at the driver's seat of his mind.
"No, no, I didn't forget, I'll be out there in a moment."
Smryin nodded, crossed the kitchen, and began preparing something.
She.. was at the cash register? But that was impossible, Sunny was at the cash register talking to Dunn Smith.
No... actually, he wasn't; it was a dream because Dunn Smith told Sunny to wake up, but that begged the question: since it was a dream, how was he able to have a full conversation with someone who wasn't even there to begin with? Or was it his powers as a beyonder that allowed Dunn Smith to invade dreams?
No, no, that couldn't have been possible, as the only being he knew that was able to do such a thing was his steed, Nightmare, and he was still in Godgrave. Was the monocle-wearing woman also a beyonder who could invade dreams? It would make sense considering that Sunny saw her there.
Sunny dismissed his thoughts for later, stood up, opened the kitchen door, and went behind the counter to find a man with his back to him, looking at the shelves. Sunny took a moment to look outside and saw that the sun was already out, unlike in his dream, where it was still dark. He saw no signs of the monocle-wearing woman standing outside, but he did see the same seagull he saw when he was walking here.
It still had the circle of black feathers around its right eye and was now sitting on a young woman's shoulder. She had brown hair and brown eyes that were cast downward as she read a book and presumably waited for a horse carriage to pick her up. The young woman didn't seem to mind that a random seagull was perched on her shoulder. Sunny stared at her, and the young woman, sensing his gaze, gave him a wave and a friendly smile.
Sunny waved back, adjusted his mantle, and turned his attention to the man browsing the shelves before clearing his throat.
"How can I help you, sir? Is there anything in particular you want to get?"
The man turned around, revealing a face he instantly recognized as Dunn Smith.
"Nothing, I'm only browsing,"
Sunny went wide-eyed at the face.
"You!"
Dunn Smith nodded and took off his hat, revealing his high hairline.
"Me,"
"You were in my dream, you spoke to me. Are you a bey-?"
Dunn Smith held up his hand and interrupted him as he looked around.
"I'll tell you more later on; now is not the time nor the place."
Sunny silently nodded; he knew that people higher in power would know about beyonders in some way, just as saints knew more about what really went on behind closed doors than masters or awakened did. But it seemed like the presence of beyonders was much more secret to the general public, well, at least from what he gathered over the past few days.
It was very different from the awakened in the realm of war, who were openly proud of the power they held.
'Why keep it a secret, though? Is it a strict rule for beyonders not to go public?'
Sunny had no idea, and it was starting to get on his nerves that he had so many questions with few answers.
He felt Smyrin's shadow leave the kitchen and open the door; he felt her shadow become surprised at who the
"Oh, hello, Dunn, I didn't know it was you. How are you?"
Dunn Smith bowed.
"Good morning, Mrs. Smyrin. I'm good. I'm sorry to tell you that I need to borrow Sunless for a while. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience."
"Oh dear, did something happen?"
"No, no, I'm just taking him in as a witness for an ongoing investigation the police department is having. It should only take a few hours, and then I'll have him back to you."
"Alright then, do what you need to, just make sure he stays out of trouble."
Dunn Smith bowed again, headed towards the door, and held it open.
"You can count on it, ma'am, come now, Sunless. I don't want to waste any more of your time than I have already."
Sunny went through the door Dunn held open for him and stepped outside into the warm air, where he saw a horse carriage just past the bakery, with a female driver presumably waiting for Sunny and Dunn Smith. Seeing his gaze, the older man gestured to the horse carriage.
"After you,"
Walking towards it and stepping into the horse carriage, he saw a considerably handsome young police officer with a romantic poet's vibe. If Sunny didn't know any better, he would have mistaken him for an awakened at the very least, due to his looks, or a master if the man dressed up nicely.
Dunn Smith stepped inside after Sunny, sat beside the young man, and knocked on the carriage twice.
"Go on,"
The carriage began moving as the three of them sat in silence for a few seconds before Sunny leaned forward.
"So who are you really? I know you're not a police officer, you're a beyonder, whatever that is."
Dunn Smith nodded.
"To put it simply, a beyonder is someone with mystical abilities."
"I can see that, so now I'm here with you and your officer, what are you going to do?"
Dunn Smith held up his hand.
"Calm yourself, I didn't ask you to come with me to turn you in, as you don't seem to be affiliated with Asterion and his assumed cult. If you were, then you would have tried running off, not that I'd blame you. But, the main reason I know you're not is that you wouldn't have told us anything about him."
"How do you know that I was telling the truth? I could have been lying to you."
"Because, in dreams, your suppressed emotions and thoughts run rampant and are amplified, therefore, I believe in your dream self more than the one who is sitting across from me. That's why I believed you when you were telling me about Asterion."
It was a dream the entire time, and Sunny didn't have a clue. He shook his head from the thought and pursed his lips.
"I don't recommend that you continue to say his name."
This made the older man raise an eyebrow.
"Why not?"
Sunny pursed his lips.
"Because he might hear you, that's all I was told about saying his name,"
"He might hear you? Hmmm, very interesting, it sounds like a far lesser form of discernment. This Asterion person is sounding more like a cheap imitation of my brother. Should I kill him and get him out of the way? No, no, then that will ruin the story "he" is writing, I'd rather not hear "his" complaining, so I'll continue to play along with "his" script."
Sunny looked around the interior of the horse carriage as they rode down the crowded streets, then at Dunn Smith, who sat across from him with a neutral expression, and the young officer who stared out the window with a faint smile.
"What?"
Dunn Smith raised an eyebrow, and the young officer turned his head to look at them.
"What is it?"
Sunny stared at them, confused.
"What did you just say?"
Dunn's eyebrow shot up further.
"I didn't say anything, Mr. Sunless."
Sunny frowned and looked at the young officer.
"What about you?"
The good-looking officer shook his head.
"I said nothing either. No one said anything until you did."
Sunny looked around again and forced a smile.
"Sorry, I must still be sleepy."
Was he losing his mind?
Dunn Smith stared at him for a long time with an almost concerned look before he spoke.
"What shall I call him then?"
"The Dreamspawn,"
"I have no idea what that is. Is that an alias?"
"You don't need to, you only need to call him that from now on, and no, it isn't."
"I see,"
Dunn Smith was silent for a few minutes, and Sunny noticed a slightly guilty look on his face.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes, there is, I'm sorry you got dragged into this, a young man like yourself shouldn't have to experience these things, but you are and will have to learn to live with it as other people around your age. The church, police, and royal families do their best to avoid situations like this, situations where civilians like you are brought into our world."
The older man sighed deeply.
"Unfortunately, you inadvertently became involved when Aster- my apologies, 'The Dreamspawn' visited you at Smyrin's bakery. Now that you know the existence of Beyonders, you must tell no one else, not your brother, not your sister, not your wife, no one. If you do tell anyone, the church has ways of knowing, and you will have to face consequences."
Sunny waved him away.
"I understand, and there is no need to be sorry; it couldn't be helped."
"I'm glad you see it that way,"
Dunn Smith stared at him for a few seconds before sighing.
"Go on, you can ask your question."
Sunny took a deep breath and leaned back in his seat.
"How did you invade my dreams?"
"It's an ability from the sleepless pathway, I'm a nightmare."
Sunny paused.
"A Nightmare?"
So he was like his horse.
Dunn seemed to realize his mistake.
"My apologies, it's the name of sequence 7 of the sleepless pathway."
Sunny pointed to the surprisingly handsome young mundane man who looked like a poet sitting beside Dunn Smith.
"I take it that he's a beyonder as well?"
Dunn Smith nodded and pointed to the young man.
"Yes, this is Leonard Mitchell, he's a Midnight Poet, a sequence 8 of the sleepless pathway."
"Was that woman a beyonder as well?"
Dunn Smith frowned at the question.
"What woman?"
"The woman watching us from outside in my dream,"
Dunn's frown deepened.
"Mr.Sunless, it should've been only you and me in your dream. Are you sure you're alright?"
Sunny nodded, and he felt his irritation growing.
"Yes, I'm sure, I'm not crazy. I know what I saw. She wore a monocle on her right eye, and I saw her from my peripheral vision, but when I turned to look at her fully, she was gone."
"I never said you were crazy, but it does explain why you stared out the window."
"How?"
"Most Beyonders see things that aren't visible to the naked eye all the time, like a person's emotions. Beyonders from the corpse collector or seer pathways can see ghosts and specters that haven't yet manifested. Normal people like you can't see them directly unless the spirit chooses to manifest. Anyway, you must've encountered a low-level spirit."
'Corpse collector? I guess everyone needs a hobby.'
Leonard smiled at his expression.
"They don't actually collect corpses, well, some of them don't, at least, most do."
"I..I see,"
Leonard chuckled.
"I'm only joking… mostly, regardless, you can loosen up, you're not under arrest."
Sunny forced a smile.
"How can you see them?"
Dunn Smith tapped his temple.
"It's called spirit vision; it allows us not only to see ghosts and specters, as well as emotions, as I said before, but it also allows us to perceive different parts of the soul."
Sunny froze at his words.
'They can see the soul? So it's a form of blood weave?'
No, maybe a better version of it?
Then, wouldn't… Wouldn't they have already seen his six soul cores and know that he was an anomaly? That he wasn't entirely human? Especially considering that Dunn Smith encountered Nephis, Mordret, and the others a few nights ago when they were leaving the clothes store.
So why didn't he say anything then?
Why didn't he say anything now?
His mind began to race; a million questions darted through it.
Did they see it now and not care? No, no! That couldn't have been right. He knew it wasn't, so why didn't they say anything?
Unless…. some higher being was preventing them from seeing his soul cores? Was it the Evernight goddess he learned about? If so, why was she helping him? Or…Or was it some other higher being making them forget they saw his soul cores? Was it the same being that was making the civilians forget that the fragment of the shadow realm and the nameless temple were in the middle of the city?
Sunny suppressed a shiver as more thoughts formed in his mind.
What about the other gods? Wouldn't they have noticed that Sunny and the others were here as well and already have eradicated them from existence the moment they arrived here? Were they watching him right now? Could he use Weaver's mask to hide from their never-ending sights? After all, even the gods couldn't see past Weaver's mask, so would it work here as well?
He didn't know, but what he did know was that some higher power had to have been protecting them from the other gods; otherwise, Sunny and his companions would have been dead the moment they set foot into Tingen city or earlier.
But who was it, and why were they protecting them?
What the hell was going on?!
Sunny composed himself and asked.
"How do you know it was low-level?"
Dunn adjusted his hat.
"Because you're still of sound mind, seeing a high sequence spirit, especially an evil one, can make any beyonder or normal person go insane or become corrupted. You got very lucky, we both did."
"They… they can enter dreams?"
"Our minds are connected to the mind world, which is connected to the spirit world. It's rare, but it is certainly possible for spirits to enter the dreams of the living. I'm glad you told me this, as it gives you one more reason to go to our headquarters. We have a spirit medium that knows much more about these things than we do. She will be able to help you while also seeing if you have any connections with 'The Dreamspawn,' as you called him."
"So I'm still a suspect?"
Dunn Smith shook his head.
"No, you're not. We need to see whether he has influenced your thoughts and emotions, because, as you said, he can manipulate them; he is a hypnotist of the spectator pathway, at least that's what I'm praying to the evernight goddess that he is. We still have no idea what his exact sequence is. At first, I thought he was a psychiatrist, but from what you've told me, he is likely a Hypnotist, that is a sequence 6 in the spectator pathway. I infer that he is because of his power in using the ability of hypnosis and getting people to say his name without them realizing it, as he did with you."
Sunny's eyes widened.
Was that why Klein corrected Sunny in the bakery, telling him that his name was Klein?
Klein obviously told Dunn Smith, but when?
Dunn Smith's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Regardless of what sequence he is, we need to be sure we don't have a sleeper agent in our midst, possibly roaming the streets with knowledge of our existence, which could cause a plethora of problems for the church, along with the other units in Tingen City. But I digress. If he can manipulate your thoughts and emotions, how do we know he can't manipulate your memories as well? He could make it to where he forces you not to remember any encounters with him, should you face any interrogations about any information you have on him."
Sunny doubted that the dreamspawn could but could respect the older man's caution all the same.
Leonard shook his head with a hint of hesitation.
"Captain, if that were the case, then that would mean he is higher than a sequence 6. In fact, now that I think about it, you told us that the reports said that multiple people were chanting his name, and Sunless told you that he can manipulate thoughts and emotions."
Leonard paused to gather his thoughts and continued.
" I don't know much about the pathway, but I do know enough to confidently say that no low or mid-sequence beyonder that pathway is capable of doing that. So wouldn't that make him a high-sequence beyonder? If that is the case, then we aren't equipped, nor do we have the beyonders to deal with a beyonder like that, only the members of the church are."
They kept mentioning a church. Was it the church of the Evernight Goddess?
Dunn Smith nodded with a grimace.
"That's a reasonable development, but we don't need to jump to conclusions yet. What we need is information; that is why Sunless is with us now. But he can only provide so much, as he has met the man only once; we need to find someone who follows 'The Dreamspawn', someone who actively believes in whatever his cause is. That way, we can get a clue as to what sequence he truly is and what he is capable of. Until that is done, we won't make any moves, no information, no arrests. But if we find out that what you said is true, then we will call the church, understand?"
Leonard nodded.
"Yes captain,"
"Good, we also still need to find out what exactly that ominous temple surrounded by that barrier of darkness is doing in the middle of the city, and why civilians aren't aware that it's there, and why only beyonders are. For all we know, that could be where 'The Dreamspawn's' headquarters are, we don't want to go in there blind and walk into a trap."
'So they can see the temple and the fragment of the shadow realm, all beyonders can.'
Leonard nodded again.
"I understand captain,"
After a few minutes of silence, the carriage came to a slow stop, and Dunn motioned for Leonard to open the door.
"We're here."
Sunny stepped out of the horse carriage and watched as it trotted off. Dunn and Leonard stepped beside him and watched as he looked around.
"Where?"
Dunn Smith pointed to the bland building in front of them.
"Zouteland Street, it houses our headquarters."
Sunny stared at him blankly and at the somewhat bland building again.
"This is your headquarters?"
"Yes, come now."
Sunny stared at the building, looking thoroughly unimpressed. Then again, he also disguised himself as a master who ran an emporium, so he supposed he couldn't be too judgmental.
"You all know how to hide in plain sight,"
"Indeed,"
As they began walking towards the building, Sunny couldn't help but ask.
"So, this entire building is your headquarters?"
For the first time, Dunn Smith let out a chuckle.
"Goddess no, we aren't that wealthy, you'll see what I mean soon."
Walking up the stairs to the second floor, Sunny spotted a door with a name on it.
Black Thorn Security Company.
This was their headquarters? A room? No, something had to be at play here; it had to be bigger on the inside, at least he hoped. Dunn Smith opened the door, and Sunny walked inside, continuing his act of being somewhat ignorant, but he was genuinely confused by the sight of the name. Once they stepped inside and Leonard closed the door behind them, he turned to them with a raised eyebrow.
"Black Thorn Security Company? I thought your cover was the Awwa county police?"
Leonard nodded as he took off his hat.
"It is, it's also one of our many covers, our real title is the Nighthawks division."
Dunn motioned for Sunny to follow him, and that was when Sunny spotted a familiar face sitting behind a desk, reading a newspaper. Dunn Smith stared at the young receptionist for a few seconds before walking up to the desk and tapping on it.
"Good to see you're making yourself busy."
The young woman jumped and quickly put down the newspaper.
"Huh?! Oh, Captain, you're back!"
"Yes, I am,"
Rozzane scanned the room before her eyes lit in recognition when she spotted Sunny.
"Who is… oh! It's you again, Sunless, right? I didn't think I would see you again so soon. It's a small world, isn't it?"
Sunny smiled and bowed.
"Yes, that's right, and yes, it is. Did you enjoy those lemon cakes?"
The young woman nodded with a grin.
"Yes! They were positively delicious. I'll have to come by again sometime."
"I'll be looking forward to it,"
Dunn wordlessly observed the interaction before opening a door, motioning him to follow, and then resumed walking. As they continued to walk, he saw a small corridor with three offices on each side. In one of them was a beautiful young woman around Sunny's age. She wore blue eyeshadow and blush, making her look older than she seemed. She wore a hooded black robe with a silver bracelet with a white crystal on her wrist. Standing beside him was another familiar face, Klein Moretti. When they saw Dunn and Leonard, they both stood up and walked towards them.
Dunn Smith gestured towards the young woman.
"This is Daly Simone, the spirit medium I told you about. She's a beyonder of the corpse collector pathway. Daly, this is Sunless."
Sunny bowed deeply and straightened.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am,"
Daly smiled at him.
"Likewise,"
Her previous words rang in his ears as he remembered Dunn Smith mentioning that 'pathway' on their way here.
He must've done a poor job at hiding his expression because the gorgeous woman suddenly laughed.
"It doesn't mean we literally collect corpses, well, some of us don't at least. Most do."
Dunn Smith smiled.
"Leonard said the same thing, they're only messing with you, Sunless, so don't take them too seriously."
Dunn then gestured to Klein.
"You already know Klein, as you two met at the bakery. He's a newly hired civilian staff member."
Sunny held out his hand to the young man.
"Yes, that's right, nice to meet you again, Mr. Moretti,"
Klein shook his hand with a smile.
"It's nice to meet you again as well, Mr. Sunless. I wish our second meeting were under better circumstances."
"So do I,"
Once Dunn made sure they got their pleasantries out of the way, he continued.
"The young woman you met when we arrived is named Rozanne Adelaide; she's a receptionist. Though I assume you already know that, since you two recognized each other."
Sunny nodded.
"She showed up at Smryin's bakery,"
Dunn slightly smiled.
"I know, I'm the one who recommended she go there."
Rozzanne had said something about a captain telling her to go there, and Sunny now knew who she was talking about.
But Sunny found something odd.
"Why are you telling all of this? Aren't you worried I might tell someone? I don't even work here."
Dunn Smith shook his head.
"No, most people won't believe in the mystical side of the world, and as a result, they will label you as a crazy person."
"And what if one person did believe me?"
"Where would you find the proof?"
"In here somewhere,"
Dunn smiled slightly and shook his head.
"I don't recommend doing that; nothing good would come from it. I don't mean that as a threat; I mean it quite literally. We have things that aren't meant to be out in the civilian world. Besides, as I said, there will be punishments if you were to reveal our existence to normal people."
"I understand,"
"Good,"
Meanwhile, Daly's emerald eyes scanned them again before landing on Sunny. She stared at him for a while before her eyes lit up with a strange recognition as she smiled at him like they had a shared secret.
Sunny realized why she was staring at him like that before he immediately dismissed the thought.
She couldn't have known that it was him who was spying on them in that apartment, right?
Sunny was about to begin walking before Daly moved closer and spoke up.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
I want to say the next chapter won't be as long as a wait, but I won't make any promises. I know not much went on in this chapter, but I hope it was enjoyable :)