When they reached the dining hall, it was already full of guards and Sleepers, all were tense, scared even.
All because of Gunlaug's arrival.
His five lieutenants entered first, Sunless looked at every one of them, at their shadows, examining every detail, every step, every breath. Reviewing what Seishan told him.
Tessai the leader of the Guardsman, the tallest and most imposing, he led the most numerous faction and had the most powerful memories. However, his big ego is a fatal weakness.
Gamma, leader of the Pathfinders and Hunters, was powerful, leading the faction that confronted nightmare creatures weekly… But he wasn't the most loyal…
Kidou of the Artisans, she was weak, but led Sleepers with powerful utility aspects, things in the Bright Castle like vegetables were thanks to them.
Seishan… His sister, not much to say.
And the final one, the Hunchback Harus, the assassin of the Host, his shadow.
The glassy eyes, bored look and boney skin made him look like a ghost. A corpse.
Sunny knew every single one of them thanks to his conversation with Seishan, including the Bright Lord himself, even if it was very little.
However, the description didn't prepare him for the real thing.
The moment he stepped into the hall, it was like an invisible pressure flooded all of the Sleepers present.
The Golden armor was imposing, pristine, covering his whole body, but the most striking wasn't the material or the polishing of it, it was that the helmet didn't have a visor. It was like a mirror, plain, reflecting all the Sleepers looking at it.
And Sunless felt it, a pressure, fear, forced fear and dread. It was exactly like Seishan described.
'It really is an insidious mind attack!'
Kai and Caster weren't much better, the same dread bombarded them. However, Cassie was fine, of course she was, the mind attack required people to see their reflection on their helmet, but she was blind, no way to see it.
Gunlaug sat on the throne and began to speak, a chilling yet charismatic voice came out of the golden armor.
"What a good day. A day where justice can be so, don't you all think so my wards? And it just so happens that a criminal is hiding here… But I am just! So let's bring this criminal to justice."
As soon as he finished speaking, the hall's doors opened and two guards appeared carrying a man clearly from the outer settlement. They tossed him in front of the Lord and his wards.
The man named Junbei didn't let fear creep into his body, made an acusation…
Sunless watched all of the… 'Trial'... Without flinching.
The courage of the hunter from the outer settlement to challenge and accuse one of Gamma's hunting parties, the leader of the Hunters suggesting a duel to determine who was right and wrong…
And how Hunchback of the Bright Lord killed Junbei like he was nothing.
He looked at all of it, the reactions of the wards, the Sleepers, the guards, the hunters… Gunlaug…
And Seishan… She was looking at Sunless himself…
She wanted him to see this, to see who the Bright Lord of The Bright Castle and his wards were…
Cassie was clinging to him, scared. Kai was looking to the ground trying to forget what he saw. Caster looked at the dead body of Junbei, for the first time, Sunless could see fear on the scion's face.
But the Prince of Song wasn't scared nor did he react to the gruesome scene.
He simply looked with an expressionless face, and started to walk away, judging to have seen enough.
"S-Sunny!"
Cassie's sudden cry for her friend that started to walk dragging her got Caster's and Kai's attention, who followed the silent boy.
Sunless walked, ignoring the calls of his companions. He was thinking, debating in his own mind.
Cassie and Caster tried to talk to him, Kai simply walked beside them.
"Sunny please! Your grip is hurting me!"
"Sunless you-!"
Suddenly, Sunless stopped on a deserted corridor. Which made the other three stop as well, his grip on Cassie's hand got loose.
"S-Sunny-"
The wall suddenly received an impact coming from the hand of the Heir of Shadows.
All three jumped in surprise, startled.
Sunless teeth greeted in controlled anger, he wasn't scared, or hopeless, not even disturbed.
He was angry. He had been wondering why he was so angry ever since he stepped foot on the stairs of the Bright Castle's entrance. Now he knew.
—
In the past, on Ravenheart, when Sunny was nearly 12 years old.
He was in his grand room, nightfall on the horizon, the grand snow peaks of the mountains showing beyond his window.
A light from a candle's fire illuminated the room. He looked at his notebook which held a question that Saint Lunae made for him to answer in his next class.
The question was: "What made a good ruler?"
Aside from the question, the paper was blank. Sunless simply couldn't answer it, no matter how much he thought he had no idea.
He had studied various leaders, kings and emperors, from the old Alexander The Great to the world governs from the world before the Nightmare Spell, yet Sunny could never see them as true leaders.
They always made the same mistakes, always fell, always let greed and politics drive them to destruction.
The only person he could think of when he thought of a good ruler was…
"Sunny, having problems?"
He turned rapidly, getting caught off guard, grabbing a dagger he had hidden on his desk and analyzing the room in search of threats. Only to find everything in its rightful place.
"Who 's there?"
His voice was calm yet firm, nobody was supposed to be here, and he would know if one of his sisters got in it.
He was met with a familiar, gentle chuckle.
"Sunny… My dear, can't recognize your own mother's voice? I know I did not give birth to you but still…"
Sunny stood still for a few seconds until the red color of embarrassment filled his face. He immediately stored the dagger and sat on his chair again, hiding his face with his hands.
"Sorry…"
Ki Song chuckled once again. Even though her body wasn't there, the citadel and Sunny himself was part of her domain, and thanks to her aspect, she could see, hear and talk to all who were a part of it.
"Difficulties with Lunae's assignment?"
Her voice was kind, filled with care and genuine affection, even through her ability that made her voice ominous and mysterious you could tell she loved her adoptive son.
Sunny wished he could share that affection without feeling guilty.
"Yes… It's not even that hard! Just one question…"
A moment of silence settled in the room, Ki Song was seemingly reading the question.
"What's difficult about it? He's merely questioning your opinion. You can answer however you like."
The son of the Queen sighed and stretched on his chair.
"But I don't know what I want to write! I don't want to give a random answer like Howl did, neither do I think a cliché answer like 'He serves his people' is right either…
A King that does whatever their people want is a fool that doesn't see what they need.
And one that leads by fear just creates rebellion and chaos.
A conqueror that invades all to expand and forgets the inside will fall to the hands of his own people.
A pacifist leaves their people unprotected..
And… What's the answer? What's the right choice?"
Sunny pondered out loud, looking at the ceiling.
His foster mother didn't answer outright, but found a way to clear the mind of her confused son.
"Am I a good Sovereign Sunny?"
He hesitated, of course she was, wasn't she? But… Why is she?
Ki Song continued, as if reading his mind.
"'Why is she a good Sovereign'... That's what you are questioning, right?"
He couldn't deny it.
"Y-Yes…"
The Raven Queen chuckled.
"It's not only my strength, or my intelegence…
I don't rule by fear, yet people fear me…
I don't show myself yet people respect me…
My aspect is ominous and terrifying, yet no question if I'll kill them to make them my pilgrims…
How?"
Sunny thought for a moment, and answered her.
"By actions? Because of your domain?"
"Close, but no. I can't force people to enter my domain, so my actions show who I am, they want to join me because of what I do and what I can provide…
But they stay for some other reason, even those who fear what I may do to them respect me…
Why?"
She didn't want to give Sunny the answer, he had to reach the answer himself.
Her son pondered.
'Why would they? She was both terrifying and just, mysterious yet kind, a conqueror and someone who avoids fighting, what's the…'
Realization hit him, the answer was his mother's essence of combat, what it meant.
"Because… You adapt to the situation, you learn from your mistakes… You don't do anything without a reason…"
Ki Song let out a proud hum.
"Yes… A true ruler knows when to be a murderer and when to be a pacifist, when to be feared and to be loved…
He tries to be the balance of his kingdom."
Sunny looked at the paper again and picked his pen, starting to write his answer to the question.
"Thanks mom!"
He didn't even notice what he said. But it made Ki Song smile nonetheless…
—
The memory of that day was still important to Sunless, that day he understood what a leader really needs to be.
And Gunlaug went against all of that.
All he does is feed despair into the Sleepers, he doesn't give them safety, he gives them a prison where their only choice is to give him what he wants.
Then he executes whoever points out the wrong doings.
He dosen't even try to learn from his mistakes, if he did, he wouldn't have given up on beating the Crimson Spire. He just rules by fear and monopolizes all the benefits, not letting anyone outside of his control challenge him.
"S-Sunless!?"
Sunless woke up from his thoughts, an armored hand on his shoulder. Looking back, it was Caster's hand, a worried expression on his face. Kai stood in the back, surprised. Cassie's hand was still wrapped on his, she looked scared, trembling.
Sunny just noticed now that he punched the wall, creating a small crack on it.
Breathing in and letting Cassie's hand go, he finally responded to Caster, the pain of his flaw going away.
"Yes…?"
Caster eyes sharpened, forcing Sunny to look at him.
"What was that?"
Sunny looked around with a passive gaze.
"An outburst…"
This time, it was Han Li's scion that got angry.
"It's the second time this day, you weren't like this in the academy, what are you-"
Sunny interrupted the brown haired legacy.
"I'll destroy Gunlaug."
Silence settled in the corridor, Caster sighed, but let a smirk creep into his mouth.
"That much is obvious."
Cassie crossed her arms, a rather annoyed tone coming out of her.
"Took you long enough to say it."
Kai's reaction however, was totally different, approaching with a scared expression. All the charm and happy-go-lucky attitude gone from him.
"Wait! Challenging Gunlaug is suicide! Many tried, and all of them ended up like Junbei, dead!"
Sunny was going to answer the singer's outrage, but a stranger's voice invaded the group.
"That has been proven for others."
The four Sleepers turned to the new voice. Sunny and Caster on guard, ready to summon memories. Cassie tried her best to hide behind Sunny, while Kai turned scared for who it was.
A full armored man walked slowly through the corridor, the armor was black, reminiscent of the skin of a Carapace Demon. A stronger version of the Starlight Legion armor, even showing the 7 stars on the chestplate, wearing a black robe as a cape. The visor was dark enough to cover his eyes, but Sunny could see, completely red, not even having pupils.
With arms behind his back, he spoke with calm confidence, a low pitch, deep voice.
"Now, what makes you different?"
Sunny ignored the pain of his flaw to think of what to answer. Multiple questions on his mind, who was this guy? A guard? Hunter? He didn't look like a random person, but Seishan didn't mention anyone like this.
The others didn't look like they knew either, even Kai, the most experienced of the group when it comes to the castle, didn't look like he knew.
Eventually, the pain of the flaw made him answer.
"I'm not like others."
The man scoffed, disappointed.
"All say that, and all fail. What makes you different?"
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
'He's asking again?'
"I have someone inside his wards, who knows his secrets."
The helmet twisted it's head, like it was asking a question.
"Not different enough… You will fail, like all others…"
The armored man sighed and turned back, beginning to walk heavy steps to get out of the corridor, wanting to end the conversation.
But Sunny wasn't done, he had too many questions and there was something bothering him about the man.
"Who are you? Why did you ask this? Are you a guard that wants to learn about the Bright Lord's enemies?"
The steps stooped and the man looked back at the hollow eyed boy. A hidden anger in his eyes and voice.
"Of course not, I will never serve Gunlaug, the man is a fool. I was just curious to see who would challenge his rule this time. Only to feel disappointment."
Sunny was even more confused.
"I am disappointing? You talk to me for not even a minute and you already judge me?"
The man approached once again.
"I've been in this castle ever since Gunlaug rose to power, I saw when he was just a person, when he turned into what he is today. And how many people challenged him. Nothing mattered, all were crushed by his unbreakable grip…
So yes, you are disappointing, a simple mole on the inside will do little to stop him."
The man turned again, this time, he had no intention to turn back.
But now, Sunny understood. The real reason why the armored man went to him.
"You just want an excuse."
The steps stopped, the hesitation was obvious even with the armour.
"You feel hopeless and just wanted an excuse to stop trying, to wait in this place until you die. You gave up, just like the person you hate."
Sunny turned his back as well.
"If you really want to escape this place, you should've resisted until the end. But If you really gave up, come up with an actual reason."
He grabbed Cassie's hand and began to walk away, not caring if the man would answer. Caster and Kai looked at each other, then followed the unknown Prince of Song.
As they were about to leave the corridor the armored man finally had an answer.
"Kira!"
Sunny turned one last time.
"If you ever need someone, my name is Kira."
Sunny heard the tall man loud and clear, then left.