After returning to Cassie's room, Sunny decided to go to the dining hall where most of the castle residents ate breakfast with her. They were hungry.
He dismissed Wraith and guided Cassie, passing through the halls, some people whispered about them, the newly arrived blind girl and mysterious boy that passed 2 months in the crimson labyrinth.
"How did they even manage?"
"I heard that there was a girl with silver hair and armor that was with them, yet stayed in the outer settlement."
"Hmp, so they sneaked their way here, one of them must have a concealment aspect."
'Why am I getting a sense of Dejá Vú?'
He ignored the whispers and entered the dining hall, where many residents were eating and talking, some watched him and Cassie, others stared only at Cassie, once again, Sunny could feel perverted gazes on her friend.
He buried the anger and got a tray of food for him and the blind girl, sitting on a table away from everyone else.
"It's nightmare monster meat with some vegetables, must be better than the ones we made."
He described the food to the blind girl.
"Thank you."
Cassie said while touching the food with the wood fork they provided.
"Your welcome."
They ate the food patiently, it had been a while since they ate decent dishes.
"Can you tell me who you went to meet?"
Sunless raised an eyebrow, not to the question, but of how it was worded. It was like when mother asked him things, a way to make him more comfortable with his flaw.
"I'd rather not, why did you ask like that?… Anyway, I think you already know who it is…"
The seer shrank uncomfortably.
"Actually I don't… I know things about you through my visions… And I heard what your flaw is when you talked to Nephis…"
Sunny's eyes twitched.
"You were awake?"
Cassie got even more uncomfortable.
The undercover Prince of Song sighed and decided to drop the subject.
Letting his mind wonder, he looked at his runes.
Name: Sunless Song
True Name: Hollow Death
Rank: Dreamer
Class: Monster
Shadow Core: Dormant
Shadow Core: [2/7]
Shadow Fragments: [976/2000]
Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Nine's Regret], [BloodRaven], [Endless Torture], [Weak Link], [Midnight Shard], [Azure Blade], [Prowling Thorn], [Ordinary Rock].
Shadows: [Soul Serpent], [Dire Wraith]
Echos: -
Attributes: [Fated], [Flame of Divinity], [Heir of Shadows], [The Shadow], [The Blood's Shadow], [Embodiment of Death and Solice].
He was almost half-way into becoming a Demon.
Thanks to Cassie's [Bloodweave], he now knew what enchantments his memories had.
[Puppeteer's Shroud] had the [Enhanced Durability] and [Doubtless] enchantments, the durability one was obvious, but [Doubtless] provided a small amount of protection against mind attacks. Maybe that was the reason he resisted the Soul-Devouring Tree's mental attack more than Nephis and Cassie.
[BloodRaven] had three enchantments, one was a passive enchantment that made the blade adapt to whatever it tried to cut, [Adaption], no matter how durable it was, it would eventually be cutted. The second was also a passive one, [Blood Reaver], it made it so the odachi absorbed blood splattered on it to make it sharper and deadlier. The last was an active one, if Sunless didn't have Serpent's [Soul Guide] he wouldn't be able to use it, [Blood Clot] made the blood on the blade poisonous.
'Teacher Blade really gave me a lot.'
[Weak Link] had a [Weaknesses] enchantment, whoever got tied in it got weaker.
[Midnight Shard] was the memory he got after killing the Carapace Demon, it was a long two handed odachi. [Unbroken], enhancing his power the closer he was to death. Sunless hoped he would never have to use it.
Finally… [Nine's Regret], the charm had one enchantment, [Last Wish]. He still remembers the enchantment description Cassie gave him.
(His last wish was that the shadow never falters. The wielder empowered by a will to never yield.)
'Is it like [Unbroken]? No, more like I'll have more determination… Or Will.'
As he wandered through his runes, he picked three shadows moving to his table through shadow sense, looking in their direction. All three had confident smiles on their faces, swords summoned on scaraboards.
Their eyes focused on Cassie… Her face and body…
'I can see why Shan always looks out for the girls here, most that couldn't fight were handmaidens, I bet if I wasn't here, Nix would have invited Cass on to them.'
He sighed, more perverts to confront.
He noticed that beyond the three, there were two other guards that seemed scared and hesitant, they were the guards that were at the entrance yesterday.
'So they ignored their companions…'
The three got closer and closer, looking more and more at Cassie… One of them even licked their lips.
Sunless anger grew. He was struggling to not get up and humiliate them. Fools that abused their power.
The one in the center approached and spoke first.
"What do we have here? Newcomers on the Bright Castle? How about we welcome you with how things work here?"
Sunless turned and looked with his hollow eyes. Shadows got deeper and denser, reacting to the anger of their future God.
"No need, we're fine."
His voice was as empty as his gaze.
The two guards backing up the one in the center took a step back, their leader just flinched, yet tried to maintain the confident facade.
"I-I didn't talk to you rookie! I'm talking to the lady."
Cassie was confused, different from Sunless, she couldn't see their obvious faces of perversion.
"Me? I already know, no need to-"
The guard interrupted her.
"I insist! I am the-"
It was the guard's turn to be interrupted. Sunless sat up, anger boiling.
"She. Said. No. Get lost."
The leader couldn't get the hint, smiling, he puffed his chest to confront the angered 'rookie'.
"Don't try to challenge me boy!"
What angered Sunless the most was that this looked like it was a normal occasion on the Bright Castle, no one seemed surprised, on the contrary. The people in the dining hall actively tried to ignore what was happening, none wanted to fight the guards, Tessai… Gunlaug.
'You let this become normal Gunlaug…'
He hadn't even seen the man, and he already hated what he did, no… What he didn't do.
Sunless eyes sharpened, he outstretched his arm to summon [Prowling Thorn].
Cassie felt the memory about to appear, she sat up to impede Sunless.
"Sunny-!"
"They're with me!"
A voice cutted through the argument. Sunless stopped the summoning of his memory and looked at the culprit.
Brown hair and tan skin, green eyes scanned the situation, he walked with confidant steps.
'Caster…'
"Please, forgive them, they're with me."
"They are with you?"
Cassie, seemingly recognizing Caster's voice, spoke with fake surprise to confirm his story. Sunless noticed that.
"Caster? Is that you? Who would have known!"
Indeed. Who would have known… Cassie would.
Caster was convincing the guards, but Sunless stopped paying attention to them and let his mind wander to calm down, he was too angry and needed to think of something else.
'How much do you know, Cassie?'
From what she told him, a lot. Her foresight and capabilities as a seer were even more impressive then Hel's and Divine Strategist's, even as Saints. The reason for that? Sunless had a theory.
The Divine Strategist aspect was more tailored for combat, he was able to see the whole picture of combat and the future of battlefields, to focus on one person, he needed to concentrate, he needed time, and even with that, he couldn't see details.
His sister on the other hand, as her True Name suggested, foresaw tragedies, death, betrayal… Struggle.
But Cassie… She can see Fate itself, the future, the pathways. That is why she could know the truth about him. Maybe it is the reason she can carry the lineage of Fate.
'So that's why your flaw is so crippleling… Cass, are you seeing Fate right now…?
What about Nephis? Can Cassie see her Fate? Does she know about the Sovereigns? The Dreamspawn? What about…'
"Sunless? Are you there?"
Sunny snapped out of his thoughts, Caster was waving his hand in front of his face, with a somewhat concerned expression.
"Sorry, had to think of something else, I was too angry. Thanks for stepping in."
Caster sat down, his face turning into understanding.
"Your welcome, honestly, I get it. They are gone now, I convinced them you were just stressed."
"Ha, I kind of was."
"Well, I don't blame you, It has been a pain to deal with them."
Caster sighed and tried to change the subject.
"So, you were in the Crimson Labyrinth for two months? How did you do that? And while protecting Cassie?"
He stood for a moment and looked at Cassie.
"No offence…"
"None taken."
Cassie gave him a smile.
"Cass was actually the reason I am here in the first place, without her aspect, we wouldn't have found our way here."
The Han Li legacy narrowed his eyes.
"We as in you and Cassie?"
'Here it comes… How will you react Caster?'
"We as in me, Cassie… And Nephis. She is the outer settlement, planning to get out of here."
Sunless watched his reaction intently. He wanted to change Caster's opinion, and make him abandon his mission. And his current vision of Changing Star mattered.
Caster… Hesitated, then his gaze faltered.
He looked lost in thought, he probably was thinking of what to do. Cassie was also paying attention, it made a silence that wasn't disturbed for a couple seconds.
Sunny sighed, he sat up, tapping Caster's shoulder and snapping the scion out of his thoughts.
"Come, there's a place I need to visit here, then, we can go meet her."
The two followed Sunny, all eyes were on them as they exited the dining hall.
They passed through the corridors, the Prince walked like he knew where he was going even though he had never been to the place… But his shadow did, so he knew.
His legacy companion though… He was none the wiser, just accepting and following.
His blind companion knew he had already scouted everything, so she was calm.
Eventually, they reached the Memory Market Sunny wanted.
It was relatively large, a lot of memories on display, not many people though, probably because it was morning.
There were only three people, and they looked like they were having an argument. A one sided argument, a little petite girl was almost shouting at an auburn haired handsome boy who was smiling innocently. The third was a tall, large man… Who was, for the lack of a better term, fat.
"I told you not to interfere with business!"
The little girl was almost spitting in the boy's face.
"Aiko! I didn't mean any harm! I just heard someone lie and had to call it out."
"YOU STOPPED ME FROM HAVING A FORTUNE!"
The large man put his hands between both.
"Let's all calm down, I'm sure Kai-"
The man looked at the three spectators.
"Customers! Let's welcome them!"
Seemingly trying to change the focus from the debate to the new people in the room, dragging both to them.
"Stev, I don't work here."
The boy's protest was ignored, soon, six people were in the center of the large room, half with confused stares.
The man introduced himself.
"I'm Stev, the one in charge of this market! It's not opening hours but I can see you are new here, so I'll make an exception!"
The petite girl scoffed, clearly annoyed.
The auburn head just gave a practiced smile.
Sunny decided to just ignore everything that happened and get on with it.
"Well… I need some memories…"
"Great! Kai, show them around, Aiko, come here, I need to talk with you."
"Stev! Wait! I don't…"
Stev and Aiko were already gone, leaving the boy's cries alone in the wind…
"Work… Here…"
Caster put a hand on his face, covering the pitying look on his face.
Cassie didn't seem to understand anything.
Sunny just rested a hand on the boy's shoulder in solidarity.
"Kai right? Don't worry, I don't want much."
"Thanks… What do you need again?"
The charming Kai showed what little memories were on display, most weren't impressive.
Cassie followed Sunny the whole way, holding his hand, Caster stayed a little on the back, looking at some weapons with some interest.
Eventually Kai stopped, turning to Sunny with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, there isn't a lot right now, most is-"
"What's that one?"
Sunless pointed to an armor in the corner, even though it cost one soul shard, it was by far the most impressive thing there.
"That… Well…"
The man named Stev appeared behind them.
"It's useless, nobody wants it because you need essence to unlock it."
All turned to the large man.
"Some say it was worn by the first lord of the castle, but that was a long time ago…
Well, enough history, anything you are interested in?"
Sunless smiled internally.
'It is useless… To anyone except me. Thanks again sis.'
"I want the armor."
—
'Mantle of the Underworld… Cool name.'
Sunny was happily looking at his new, 'useless' memory while walking through the halls of the Bright Castle. None the wiser of the fact that three people were following him with confused and bewildered faces.
"You just wasted 20 soul fragments for trash memories!"
Caster stated. His reaction expected.
"You could have gotten a stronger charm!"
Cassie said… Hers was more surprising…
"Are you crazy?!"
Kai questioned… Wait.
"I'm not crazy… And why are you here?"
The annoyingly handsome boy looked around in surprise, as if he just noticed he had followed Sunny here.
He shifted uncomfortablely, the two others looked at him, well, Caster did, also questioning his presence.
"I… Was just so confused about your decision, it's not everyday some guy comes in and… Purchases so many memories!"
Sunny stared at Kai, almost glared. The handsome face, the auburn hair, charming personality, the innocent yet beautiful voice, the honest eyes, the voice… That voice…
'Wait… No way!'
"Kai? As in Nightingale Kai? From the duo?"
Kai's face went from uncomfortable to surprised then to happy.
"Yes! You're a fan?"
"Not really, my sisters really like you, so I end up listening to a lot of your songs. Wait, why are you even here? Weren't you on a break to 'find inspiration' or something like that?"
"That's just a story to hide the fact I was infected by the Nightmare Spell."
"Well, looks like they are gonna have to stretch that story for some time…"
Kai embarrassingly chuckled, shifting to the side.
"You can say that again…"
"I'm sorry, who are you?"
Castor intruded, clearly not knowing Kai's reputation. It made sense, being a legacy of Han Li, and a boy that didn't look like a fan of music, he would rather learn spearmanship than what artist was on the rise… And it didn't look like he had any sisters…
Before Kai could answer, Cassie got close to Caster's face, angrily talking.
"Do you live under a rock? Kai is one of the most popular singers in the world! Together with Gale, they…"
Cassie continued to tell the lore of the Nightingale duo with impressive detail, Caster couldn't even get a word in.
"So… She's a fan?"
Kai asked, but Sunless could only shrug.
"Looks like it…"
Kai shook his head, Cassie was about to continue chastising Caster, but then remembered that someone wasted 20 soul shards on useless memories.
"Wait, Sunny! We are not done!"
"Cass, look, there's a reason for–"
"What reason do you possibly have?!"
Sunny answered with a sarcastic voice, trying to conceal his secrets from Kai and Caster. He still couldn't fully trust them.
"Because then my Echo would ascend a rank."
Cassie suddenly opened her mouth in understanding, she must have correlated it to Wrath's counter.
Caster just looked at Sunny like he was a crazy person…
And Kai was staring at Sunny, not with confusion or bafflement. But bewirderment, not believing what he heard, in the sense that what he heard was fact.
'What kind of reaction is-'
Their conversation was interrupted by a commotion. Some guards ran by them like they were not even there, Sunny recognized one of them as the guard that confronted him in the dining hall.
"What's happening?"
Sunny asked, and Kai answered, but his pleasant and happy tone disappeared, replaced by a somber and uncomfortable expression.
"The Bright Lord… He's doing something."