"She said she got my contact information from Captain Bloodwave in case I found something while off duty or if I needed her help with anything, and that I'm free to contact her because we outskirt ears have to stick together. Also, if I called her any time later than 2am, she'll assume it's a booty call and won't answer."
"So that's how it is, huh? She's offering you to contact her if you need her help with anything," Jest smiled once Sunny finished talking.
It didn't help that the older man was wiggling his eyebrows at his last word.
"Quit being a pervert, old man, it's like everything I said before that went in one ear and out the other," Sunny scoffed.
"Boy, you have to learn to read between the lines, otherwise you'll miss every signal a woman throws your way!"
"What lines? There are no lines!" Sunny asked in a bewildered tone as he threw his hands up.
"Because you're not looking hard enough," Jest tapped his cane on the floor.
"Or maybe you should get glasses because your age is finally catching up with you," Sunny replied with an eyeroll, getting the older man to scoff and grumble.
"I can see why you two are getting along well; it makes sense for you to be more open to trusting her, considering where she grew up," Mordret said as he walked to the kitchen to make something to eat.
"Yes, it'll be good to have another possible friend who you can relate to and tell your outrageous tales. In fact, I'm sure you have already, haven't you? Kai asked with a smile.
"Yeah, guilty as charged," Sunny said, putting his wrists together, giving a half-hearted smile to his handsome friend.
"Well, regardless of whether you develop feelings for the woman and pursue her or stay professional with her and go for that immortal flame girl or any other woman for that matter. Make sure to take it slow, you're still young and have plenty of time to get to know these ladies and for them to get to know you." Jest advised him with a rare, serious tone.
"I got it, Uncle Jest," Sunny nodded again.
"Besides, I don't want to hear that you knocked a woman up in a few months and find your room empty with a note left behind saying that you went to get milk."
"Goddamn it, Jest!"
Just when he thought the old man was giving good advice!
Jest ignored Sunny's outburst with a humorous smile and slightly turned his head to look in the kitchen, where the kind Mordret was.
"That goes for you boys as well. Mordret, I know your emotionless brother has something going on with Seishan; that is clear as day. Oh, and I see you eyeing Cassia from time to time whenever we meet with the Immortal Flame Clan. I'm telling you now to be careful around the quiet ones; she'll wear you out the most. Especially you, Kai. You, of all people, need to be cautious." Jest pointed at the former idol with his cane.
"Me?" Kai asked, confused, and pointed at himself, making Jest frown and set his cane back down with a scoff.
"Yes, you! Do you think I don't see you hovering around Morgan whenever she comes over here? Or how she always stares at you when she thinks no one is looking? Hear my words, boy, and wait until you become a saint before dating her; that way, your skin is a lot more durable. If you take my advice, you'll be thanking me soon enough and for the rest of your life." Jest gave him a wink from across the couch.
"Saint Jest!" Kai blushed in embarrassment while Mordret laughed from the kitchen.
"It is good advice, Kai," Mordret chimed in, his tone full of mirth.
Sunny silently agreed with him.
"Mordret! Don't encourage him!" Kai groaned and buried his face in his hands.
"I'm just telling you how it is, boy! No need to be embarrassed," Jest said with a laugh.
Sunny smiled in amusement when his communicator notified him of a message, making Jest look over at him with a grin, and Sunny rolled his eyes.
"It's not like that, Jest, I just met the woman!" Sunny said in a futile attempt to convince Jest, but it only made the older man grin more. Once he had made up his mind about something, no matter how false it was, he would never let it go, especially not in this case.
Why couldn't he leave it be?
"You say that, and yet she can't stop blowing your commutator up with messages! I keep telling you that you remind me of when I was your age, and pretty soon you'll have to keep a taser on you to scare all the women who are trying to get a piece of you!" Jest said with a barking laugh and slapped his leg.
"I don't even know if it's her! Quit jumping to conclusions, Uncle Jest," Sunny said with a groan as he palmed his face. He was a fool for thinking he was going to come home and have a peaceful rest of the night.
"Then check it so Uncle Jest can stop bothering you, and you can get some rest," Kind Mordret said as he sat down beside him with a bowl of ramen in his hands.
"It's Cassie, she just messaged me that she will be free for the next two days, so she can help with figuring out these runes that the dream hunter wrote in blood," Sunny said as he put away his communicator and leaned back into the couch.
"Going back to this killer, I still think it's strange of them to switch tunes like this. First, they were killing criminals and carving letters into their torsos to spell the word monster, along with taking off pieces of their skin, and now they're going after innocent people and taking pieces of their skin too, with no clear goal in mind? It doesn't add up and doesn't make a lick of sense either. Something's not sitting right with this, I can feel it in my bones." Jest said, frowning, then stood and began to pace around the living room
"Jet said that there could be multiple of those reflection creatures,"
"I'm starting to think she's right," Jest said with a grimace as he tapped his cane on the ground, something that he did when he was deep in thought.
"I'm praying to the dead gods that she isn't," Sunny moved to grab a piece of paper and a pencil.
"So am I," The old man nodded in agreement,
"Did my brother say anything about the murder scene? I mean, it's good that you've narrowed down that the killer isn't human, but what about the face that it is reflecting?" The prince asked, stirring the ramen absentmindedly with his fork as he stared at the projector that quietly played a random show in the background.
"It wore a mask, and the other has been covering their tracks pretty damn well, meaning that they've been in the waking world long enough to gain sentience." Sunny looked at his friend with a somber expression.
"Oh dear gods," Kind Mordret whispered,
"But we still don't understand who let that thing loose? How did it manage to take a gateway? Did it have a guide or did it stumble upon one by chance?" Jest tapped his foot, annoyance clear in his voice, and flopped back down onto the couch.
Over the past few years, the older man had occasionally helped Sunny with his cases, as Jest found them exciting and took satisfaction when they were solved.
But once again, no one had an answer,
"Ah, those are questions for another day. Get some sleep, boy, you've earned it," Jest said, patting Sunny on the shoulder as he stood up again
"Goodnight, old man,"
"Goodnight, Uncle Jest,"
"Goodnight Saint Jest,"
"Goodnight, kids," Jest said as he opened the door and walked out, then closed it behind him, leaving the room in silence until Sunny looked at Kai with a blank expression.
"So why haven't you asked out Morgan yet?"
"I-i don't know, I'm nervous, Sunny,"
"Well, she's always bugging me about it whenever she sees me; it's annoying, so hurry up and take her out to dinner so she can get out of my hair. I'm going to bed." Sunny sighed and stood up, giving Kai a pat on the shoulder, then did the same to Mordret.
"Have a good night, little brother,"
"You too, Mordret,"
"Sleep well, Sunny,"
"I'll try," He replied as he dragged himself to his room, took off his clothes, and then hopped into the shower. As he turned on the shower head and felt the warm water hitting his skin, he couldn't help but wonder about his new partner.
'I wonder what Jet is up to, probably still working,'
After ten minutes, he got out of the shower and dried himself off, put on his nightwear, pulled the covers off to lie down, then flopped on his bed and pulled the covers back over him.
The day was over, and he could finally get some rest.
***
Jet let out a long sigh as she lay underneath the covers of her bed in her pitch black room, staring at her open curtain window and into the night sky that was sprinkled with barely visible stars.
'I wonder what the detective is up to,'
Jet was naturally curious about the man who was a member of Changing Star's cohort on the forgotten shore and assisted in the final battle to reach the gateway after a year and a half of surviving that hellish place.
She shifted in place, trying to make herself get what little rest she could in the couple of hours of free time she managed to get throughout the week. Usually, she would spend it at the academy talking with old man Julius and the other professor or stuffing her gullet with cafeteria food.
Still, after today, Jet couldn't work up an appetite. She was by no means easy to shake, as she was a seasoned master who had seen a lot in her career.
Jet knew humans could be more monsters than actual nightmare creatures could; she had seen it in her late mother as a teenager whenever the woman came home in a drunken state and threw things around trashing the place, or when her mom came home with a different man each time, trying to fill the void that Jet's father left when he died on the line of duty as a police officer.
It was one of the reasons she didn't want to become a cop, because she wouldn't be able to kill any rogue awakened or go to the dream realm and kill nightmare creatures to sustain her ever-leaking soul core, as she was dead and couldn't contain soul essence like other awakened could.
She also didn't want to ruin her father's legacy by being known as the butcher on the force, as she was already known throughout the waking world as "Soul Reaper."
Still, it was also why she liked working with the police force, as it was one of Jet's only reminders of him.
And the second reminder that he existed was his badge; she couldn't visit his grave because there were no gravesites on the outskirts. When he was killed, Jet was a teenager who didn't have a job.
That, and her mother's only source of income at the time was being a miner for a company that was now long shut down, and doing the occasional… favor for men who were willing to pay enough money for it. Therefore, they couldn't afford a proper burial for her father.
But what the killer was doing was something else entirely, something vile. Who kind of human tore pieces of flesh off their victims, let alone drain their blood for a ritual? Then again, according to Prince Mordret, the killer wasn't human at all but a reflection of someone, but it didn't matter to Jet, human or not, this person needed to be put down and fast.
More importantly, her thoughts constantly drifted back to the police officer who randomly snapped and killed three people, then himself.
Why? What for?
Was Prince Mordret wrong in his theory of it being a reflection when it was just an extreme cult? She should ask that old saint, what was his name? Jest? Jet heard that he dealt with more than a few cults back in the day.
She would call the detective in the morning and ask if he knew him.
In the meantime, she really needed to get some rest, as another long day lay ahead. But her eyes shot wide open when a thought hit her.
What if the three people the random officer killed were reflections, and he knew that? But if that was the case, then why did he take his own life? To not face punishment for his crimes?
Jet, who was now wide awake, sat up with a sigh. It looked like she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.
I'm terribly sorry for the wait. I know it's probably frustrating to wait so long for a chapter so short. I'll try to be better about that.