Sunless was sleeping peacefully, the bed was wonderful, he was…
"Aghhh!!"
His slumber was interrupted by a barbar- his lovely new sister.
"Damination! Terra, you Mutt!!"
Terra, smiled smugly.
"What little brother? Can't take a hit?"
Terra was one of his new 7 sisters, and the one who loved to tease, and spar with him.
"Come on… breakfast ready."
She got out after that.
Sunless got up and got ready, it had been a year since he came to the Dream Realm and got in his new home, the Jade Palace, the center of Ravenheart, but he still was getting used to his new life as a legacy of the Song clan…
Every Day it was training, lessons, and more training to prepare for the Nightmare Spell, and even with the best food and training the Clan had to offer, Sunless's body was still weak after the years of living in the outskirts.
After putting on his signature black clothes, he got to the main dinner hall, where his sisters were waiting.
Seishan and Eunbin were chatting about girl things.
Terra was trying to get Moon to spar with her after they ate, which Moon was not entertaining one bit.
Caera was silently waiting in the corner.
Hel was… Looking at the ceiling?
And Revel was… Where is Rev-
"Hey Sunny."
Sunless jumped.
"By the gods… Really?"
Revel smiled and went to sit down.
"You weren't paying attention."
Sunless sighed and sat next to her.
"Yeah, yeah…"
The sister and brother were served by the servants of the house, the food was delicious and nutritious, perfect for training.
All of them chatted and talked. Their Mother was absent… again.
Sunless looked at the head chair, where his new Mother was supposed to be, with a feeling of longing. More and more she became more distant to them, he knew why… but still. It hurt him that the person who saved him from the outskirts was slowly losing her humanity… he did not want to lose another… Mother.
Seishan called him and snapped him back to reality.
"Hey, Sunny, you okay?"
"oh… yeah… I'm fine… Just thinking."
He smiled.
She wasn't convinced, but she didn't pry.
"Come on… Didn't you say you were going to beat me?"
Seishan smiled, teasing him.
If there was one thing Sunless enjoyed doing with his older sister, was playing either chess, or the death game (Chess with more rules). In the beginning, Sunless didn't really like it, Ki Song said it was necessary for all her children to learn it, and pushed their mentors to play it, so he found it boring, but as soon as Seishan helped Sunless play, he got into it, beating all his sisters and even teachers, the only exceptions were Ki Song, Seishan and one of their teachers.
The once sullen Prince of Song was now determined.
"Oh, you bet I am!"
The two siblings left the diner, leaving their sisters and went to the chess room, where there were tables for anyone to practice the game. Even this room was large and grand, just like the rest of the Palace.
The two sat, set up the death game and began to play it. It was a close game, but Seishan won by one missplay on Sunless' part.
"Agh, Damnation…"
Seishan laughed at the continuous use of the word.
"Why 'Damnation'?"
Sunless looked with confusion.
"Because… I don't know… it just feels right I guess?"
Just then, Eunbin and Revel appeared in the room.
"Still playing this game? It's time for physical training!"
Eunbin said, as always, firm and elegant.
Sunless sighed he didn't like to train, he always felt tired, his bones hurt, and he couldn't even sleep, their tutors were powerful Saints, and were never easy on them.
"Come on… you know Mother will give you a earfull if you run off again."
Revel picked his hand and dragged him out of the room. Eunbin and Seishan laughing as she did.
As they walked in the vast Palace, Sunless noticed a room that he hadn't seen before. Even after a year living there, he had not seen such big iron doors.
"What's that room?"
His sisters turned, just now noticing the door.
"I don't… wait, since when was that room there in the first place?"
Eunbin questioned.
"Why don't we check? There could be something cool inside!"
Revel beamed, Sunless and Eunbin's eyes shined with curiosity and wonder.
"No… maybe it is better to call…"
Before Seishan finished, her two sisters and brother were already opening the heavy doors. She sighed, and followed her siblings to make sure they didn't do anything stuped.
The room was dark, dust filled the air, but the most striking feature was the toys scattered all around, all different and unique.
"Weird… why would there be a Toy room in here? I can't imagine anyone using it."
"Maybe they liked to play pretend?"
All three girls looked at Sunless, unamused.
"What…?"
The three girls sighed.
But then, Revel notices something, something… weird, a dollhouse.
She went there, and the others followed her.
"What's wrong Revel?"
But before she could answer, Revel touched a doll, and then, 3 other dolls jumped into Sunless, Seishan, and Eunbin…
And all four kids disappeared…
And the Song Family was never the same after that…