As Mordret moved to open the door, he stopped in place and turned to look around the deck, then at Morgan, who stood there in silence.
"No, seriously, how did I not see you? Where were you standing?"
Morgan smiled at him and pointed at a chair.
"Would you believe me if I said I was disguised as a chair?"
Mordret let out a laugh.
"No, not even for a second, how in the world could you disguise yourself as a chair?'
'At least she still has her sense of humor…. I guess, well, no, not really now that I think about it. She has no sense of humor.'
Mordret continued to laugh, but stopped when he noticed she looked serious and didn't answer his question, so Mordret asked another.
"Do you want me to take Sunny, or do you want to?"
Morgan smiled.
"You can take him home, considering that you drove his new car here during the blizzard. I doubt he would trust me ever since I crashed my car that one time."
"Yeah, he still hasn't gotten over that, you know?"
"Yeah, I know, I don't blame him,"
Mordret slid the door open and allowed Mordret to step inside first to see Sunny, Kai, Silence, Revel, Eunbin, and Uncle Asterion still sitting at the dinner table with glasses of wine in front of them. His mom and dad had likely already gone to bed because they had work early tomorrow.
He watched Kai let out a sigh.
"So anyway, Gale got a new girlfriend,"
Revel, who was reading one of her romance books, put it down with wide eyes.
"Again? That's ridiculous. Isn't that like the third one this month?"
Sunny, who was listening to Kai speak, heard the glass door slide open, looked over in curiosity, and then frowned at the sight of Mordret.
"Why didn't you tell me you bought me a car?"
Mordret was about to speak when Asterion beat him to it with a sheepish smile.
"Actually, Mordret only drove the car here; I'm the one who bought it, kid."
"Then why did you tell me to say what color I wanted if you already bought it?"
Asterion shrugged.
"I wanted to surprise you."
"Well, it was a terrible surprise,"
"Bah, just take the car, boy!"
"Whatever you say, old man,"
"I'm not old, brat! I'm only 52!"
Sunny scratched his cheek.
"Oh, right, sorry I forgot."
Asterion seemed to calm down and smiled as he leaned back.
"That's alright,"
"Can I ask you something, though?"
"Go ahead,"
Sunny brought the glass to his lips to hide his smirk before asking.
"What was it like to live with the dinosaurs?"
Asterion's jaw immediately dropped.
"Be quiet!"
Sunny turned away from Asterion with a grin as he set the glass down and eyed Eunbin, who had cracked a smile at their banter.
"You know, you never told me how you got that scar, Bin,"
Eunbin's small smile immediately disappeared from her beautiful face and turned into a scowl.
"Don't ever call me that again. We're not close and never will be."
Mordret silently cringed at her words.
'That's harsh, I was always sure they would get along,'
Silence shook her head and wrapped an arm around Sunny's shoulder with a pout.
"Come on, Bin Bon, take it easy on the pretty boy. How can you hate a guy who looks like this?"
Sunny stifled a laugh at the nickname, causing Eunbin's eyes to snap towards him again.
"Is something funny, Sunless?"
"Kind of,"
Eunbin's scowl deepened, and Mordret felt the need to come to the rescue.
"Eunbin, where's Miss Song? I thought she would be here?"
Eunbin's gaze softened as she turned her head towards him.
"Mother is still doing paperwork at Song Enterprises. She was disappointed as much as you are that she couldn't be here; that's why she had us bring a cake."
"I'll be sure to save a plate then for when she visits next time,"
"While we're on the topic of women, I had something to ask you, Kai."
"What is it?"
"Why don't you have a girlfriend yet? I mean, seriously, look at you! You're a supermodel!
Kai raised an eyebrow, his eyes darting to the sisters sitting at the table, then back to him.
"I could ask you the same thing, Sunny, I mean, beautiful ladies are sitting at the table with us, and you haven't taken any of them out to dinner. Or why not Miss Song?
I'm sure she would love a good dinner, not in a romantic way, of course, I mean that it would be good for her to go somewhere, as she rarely gets out because she's always so busy."
Silence nodded and smiled, pulling Sunny closer to her while ruffling his hair.
"That's a good idea, I'm sure she would love it, and it's right around her birthday too."
Revel nodded.
"I agree, mother needs to get out more. It's a good idea."
Asterion nodded with a grin.
"Yeah, even when we were younger, that woman never went anywhere. Besides, Sunny needs experience taking a woman out, as he doesn't talk to women.
Sunny looked around with outrage
"Hello?! Don't I get a say in this?!
They all looked at him and spoke in unison.
"No,"
"You all can't be serious!"
Mordret let out a laugh as he walked with Morgan and stepped into her room, and Morgan sat on her bed, patting the spot beside her. Mordret left the door open and sat down beside her with a smile.
"What is it, Morgan?"
Morgan had been a bit eccentric ever since she had come back; well, he couldn't say she was eccentric, since he had no idea what his real sister was like nowadays. Still, despite knowing she was a reflection of Morgan, Mordret still loved her just as he would any other person in his make-believe life. He was glad he could still feel happiness, unlike his twin brother, who couldn't feel it at all and instead learned to imitate the emotion by observing their former teacher. Even though Mordret knew he was a strange person, he could tell that the dreamspawn was even stranger, as he didn't even try to pretend to be human.
"I want to tell you a story about someone."
"Oh? Alright then. I always enjoy your stories."
Morgan smiled gently at him and ruffled his hair. She reminded him of a woman the original Mordret had met in his first nightmare; this woman was someone whom he hadn't thought of since he conquered it. She was the first person to truly treat him as her own child, just as Morgan was doing, which made sense since the woman had told him that her family forbade her from having children of her own.
She was also the first person to show affection and care for the original Mordret, and, strangely enough, she was aware that she was not real and that Mordret was in his first nightmare. Mordret had many regrets in life, but the main one was forgetting the woman's name. He hadn't thought of her in years, so he had forgotten it, which was odd considering that Mordret deemed her an important person in life even though she wasn't real. He knew her name started with an 'M'
It made him sad because he was sure that he would've remembered her name even after all these years. But still, if he hadn't thought of her this long, then he doubted his brother thought about her at all. The thought of the woman made him wonder.
'I wonder what my real mom was like,'
What would she think of Mordret being split? Would she attempt to support him with a flaw like his, or would she disown him and label him an outcast, a monster, like everyone else in Clan Valor did to his brother?
What would she think of Dad? Would he change for her?
He had no idea. If… if he could somehow talk to him and…. and say what exactly? What could he do? Ask for an explanation as to why he gave him off to the dreamspawn? Ask for an apology for something that shouldn't have happened in the first place? Mordret wasn't angry like his other half; no, he was confused, as he was someone who had been promised everything, yet given nothing.
And for what? Because of his flaw? Because of something out of his control?
He had no one, well… no, no, that wasn't true, as he had his teacher, someone who was his mentor as well as a father figure to Mordret, despite the older man's careless attitude and easygoing personality. He was someone who tried to teach him how to fight, but soon realized that Mordret couldn't harm anyone, even if he wanted to.
He then tried to teach Mordret how to become a 'shaper' and a sorcerer like he was, but quickly realized that Mordret lacked the talent. And that wasn't because both Mordret and his teacher were forced to be mundane humans because of the laws of the palace of imagination, no, it was because most shapers were women, as they had much more talent in that kind of sorcery than anyone else, except for a few men.
And becoming a weaver was impossible for Mordret, so his teacher decided to arm him with all kinds of knowledge. Mordret instantly grew attached to his teacher, who had also been stuck in the palace of imagination but had been there for centuries, far longer than Mordret had.
His teacher was part of a group of followers that were hated by both the forces that sided with the daemons and those that sided with the gods in the Doom War. As a result, his teacher was chased here by fanatics who sided with the daemons, including a member of a group called 'The Nine.'
This person was tasked with bringing the daemon of imagination to their side and killing Mordret's teacher. But before being chased here, his teacher told him that he had spent a lot of time hiding in a place called the 'Eternal city', built by the demon of repose, and that he had gotten there by swimming to the bottom of the stormsea.
His teacher told him that he suffered fatal wounds that should've killed him, but ultimately survived due to what his master had done to him. It was there that his teacher had befriended a king and a princess who were father and daughter, and who happened to be children of the storm goddess, with the father the heir of the storm goddess.
Which was strange considering that Mordret thought that the late Night Walker was the heir to the storm goddess, but his teacher soon corrected him that the father he met was the heir to the goddess of storms in his home realm.
While the late Nightwalker was the heir to the storm goddess in the war realm, Mordret was confused until his teacher told him that there could be multiple heirs to the same god, but only one per realm. This meant that there could be an heir of war in the realm of war, as well as in another realm. Mordret realized he had zoned out when he saw Morgan sitting there with a calm expression and immediately apologized to her.
"I'm sorry, sister, I spaced out."
Morgan shook her head.
"Don't apologize, you seemed to be deep in thought, so I'll tell you later, go ahead and take Sunless along with the other two home, please drive safely. If I don't see you tonight, then goodnight, I love you. Let me know if you're going to be staying somewhere, and I'll let Sebastian know."
Mordret nodded absentmindedly as he stood up and forced a smile.
"Okay, I love you too,"
Mordret glanced at her with an unreadable expression. He glanced at the mirror on the dresser in front of her bed and stared at his reflection, not being bothered that his sister didn't have one. He glanced at her closet, where the red jacket she always wore was nowhere to be seen since she returned from her disappearance. He closed the door behind him and walked to the kitchen to see Nephis, who waved at him with a smile, along with Howl, who was now sitting at the table with the others, talking on the phone.
Mordret cleared his throat, causing them all to look over at him.
"Hello Nephis, are you three ready to go?"
Cassie spoke for the three of them as Kai helped her stand up.
"Yeah, we are."
He felt someone tap him on the shoulder from behind and turned around to see Morgan
"I'll come with you, I need some fresh air anyway,"
"Alright then, let's go, goodnight everyone,"
As they all moved towards each other, Howl suddenly pulled everyone into a crushing group hug and soon let go.
"Goodnight! You all need to come visit us soon, it's been ages."
Kai gasped for air and gave her a look.
"Me, Mordret, Morgan, Cas, Asterion, and Sunny visited last week."
Howl rolled her eyes with a grin.
"Yeah, I know, that's too long ago, anyway, goodnight, pretty boy,"
Kai nodded tiredly.
"Goodnight, Howl. We'll make sure to visit soon."
"Good!"
They all left the mansion and got into the car, with Mordret being the last. As he walked around the car and got into the driver's seat, he thought back to his teacher's words.
'Break the law of imperfection and become flawless,'
But that would mean Mordret would have to kill his brother, and if he couldn't do it as a child, then how could he do it now? Besides, even if he did kill his brother, what would happen to his flaw? Would he gain another flaw in place of his previous one, or would he have to do as his teacher said and make it his will to grow stronger by continuously defying the law of imperfection?
Mordret had no idea since it had never been done before.
'Possibly trillions and trillions of beings have existed throughout the seven realms, and not a single one of them has ever defied or broken the law of imperfection? That's just my luck,'
Pulling out and turning around in the large driveway toward the entrance gate, he looked into the rearview mirror to make sure everyone had their seatbelts on. Once he was sure, he began driving toward the entrance and rolled down his window to press the intercom.
"Sebastian? I'm taking Sunlees and the others home,"
The intercom crackled to life.
"Alright then, let me know when you're done dropping them off, and I'll send someone to pick you up."
"Okay, I will."
The gate opened, and Mordret drove off into the street. They all sat in silence for a few minutes before Sunny began rummaging in his pocket for something and pulled out a crystal monocle, then put it on the middle console, where Mordret rested his arm.
"Here, I thought you might want it. The maniac driver I told you about gave it to me as he drove me here; he gave me his own as a reward, but I threw it down and broke it."
Mordret used his peripheral vision to pick it up while keeping his eyes on the road and smiled at Sunny through the rearview mirror.
"Thank you! I love monocles, you're sure you don't want to give to Aiko for her antique shop?"
"Yeah, I'm sure,"
Mordret nodded, and as he pulled onto the highway, he stole a glance at the billboards and saw an average young man wearing a red vest, a red scarf, a black robe, white gloves, a wand, and a classic hat with a big red feather on the side. The billboard read.
"The Wandering Magician is back in Mirage City for the next two months!"
Morgan spotted it too, smiled, and glanced at Sunny through the rearview mirror.
"Hey, Sunless, Kai, Cassie, Mordret, your favorite magician is in town again."
All three of them in the back seats leaned forward instantly with wide eyes as they looked out the window, but Cassie seemed to realize that she couldn't see at all and leaned back with a sigh.
Sunny spotted the billboard as they passed it.
"Merlin Hermes?! Seriously?!"
Morgan nodded from the passenger seat.
"Yeah, for the next two months, I can get tickets for all of us."
Cassie smiled at him.
"You're amazing, Morgan,"
Morgan waved her off with a smile.
"Don't mention it, consider it an early Christmas gift."
Sunny leaned back in his seat with a smile and then frowned when his phone rang.
"Sah-nee! Sah-nee!"
"God, I really need to change that ringtone."
Cassie laughed.
"I like it, it's cute,"
Sunny suppressed a groan, answered the phone, and put it to his ear.
"Hello? Saint?"
Sunny gave Mordret a long look as he waited for a reaction to the name before turning to face the window, a small smirk when Mordret remained silent.
"Yes, I'll be there tomorrow, yes, I heard about Merlin being in the city… yes, yes, I'm going, we all are, are you?"
Sunny raised an eyebrow and nodded again in the open air.
"Really? Good, good, it'll be fun, you need to get out more anyway. I'll see you tomorrow."
Kai looked at Sunny in curiosity as he hung up.
"What did she say?"
"She'll be going with us,"
Kai's eyebrows shot up.
"Really?"
"I know, right? What happened to the Saint I know?"
Cassie leaned her head against the window.
"I'm glad she's going with us,"
First, Mordret dropped Cassie at her place before Kai helped her get out, and she pulled him into a hug, then gestured for Sunny, Morgan, and Mordret to get out as well.
"I had a good night, I'll see you all tomorrow, not literally of course, because I'm bl-"
Sunny stared with outrage.
"Cassie!"
Cassie laughed.
"Okay, okay, I'm going,"
They waited until Cassie's mother came outside and helped her inside, then waved at them with a big smile.
"Thank you, boys, for bringing my Cassie back safely! Have a good night!"
Then he dropped Kai off, who got out with a smile and hugged Mordret, Sunny, and Morgan.
"It was a fun night. I'll see you all soon. Mom and Dad have been wanting to see you all for a while, so come and visit whenever you're free."
Sunny nodded.
"We definitely will, man, have a good night."
Lastly, it was Sunny as Mordret pulled into his driveway and stared at him through the rearview mirror
"Enjoy the new car, pal, and be glad that the old rust bucket is gone."
Sunny scoffed as he got out of the car with Mordret and Morgan and hugged them both.
"She was an old reliable,"
Morgan frowned as she texted Sebastian to send someone to pick them up.
"You mean a liability,"
Sunny rolled his eyes at her words
"Bah, whatever, I'll stay out here until someone gets here,"
Mordret gently waved him away.
"It's okay, we'll be alright, go on ahead, I'm sure you're exhausted."
"That I am but alright, if you say so, just one of you let me know when you're both home safe."
Mordret nodded.
"Will do,"
A Black SUV arrived, the driver's window rolled down, revealing Uncle Jest in the seat, with a neutral expression.
"Get in, kids."
Mordret's smile disappeared as he got into the SUV with Morgan and sat in the backseat beside her. He stared at the rearview mirror from the back seat for a while, seeing no reflection of Jest. Mordret then realized something very, very odd, something that he had completely overlooked because he was focused on driving most of the time.
'Why did the three of them have reflections?'
As they drove off into the night, Mordret failed to notice a tall man wearing a black cap, a face mask, jeans, a gray flannel, and sunglasses tilted downward, watching them from afar with an emotionless expression. He had gotten these items from an older man who generously gave them to him without a fuss before the older man tragically slipped on his floor and broke his neck, with no one around to witness it or call for help.
'How unfortunate,'
The tall man pushed his sunglasses back up and began walking away. He didn't know where to go because he was homeless at the moment, as he was an error in this place, an anomaly that didn't belong here or anywhere for that matter. As he strolled down the sidewalk for a few blocks, he spotted a nearby neighborhood and a police car parked nearby. An idea quickly formed in his head, and Mordret pleasantly smiled to no one in particular.
'It's time I go house hunting,'
Hello, Hello! It's good to be back, sorry to keep you all waiting. I took a bit of a break for a few days and got lazy, and soon those days turned into weeks, and yeah, that's honestly about it. I have no other excuses. See you all next chapter! :)