The whole ride to the movie theater was embarrassing to Sunny, especially because his sisters kept teasing him all the way there! He tried to escape, he really did, but his sisters were Saints, even with his Shadow Step, Howl was able to get him easily and force him to enter the PTV.
Either by calling him a celebrity, pointing at posters marketing the movie, showing the actor playing his role wearing a replica of the Mantle of the Underworld, or just bothering him all together.
He was even forced to dismiss his cosmetic Memory and wear the [Mantle of Shadows] just to call more attention to himself! He couldn't help but grow annoyed.
"Aghhh…. At least the others aren't here…"
"That's because they are already there!"
Sunless face dead-paned and he turned to Eunbin, who continued speaking with an innocent smile.
"Rev and Silent went first to avoid the crowd, and Moon is with the producers, only Rain couldn't come because of her parents and Hel said she already saw the tragedy of her brother's tears!"
Sunless' eyes twitched.
"And I couldn't go with Rev and Silent?"
Howl grinned ear to ear.
"And make you not go through all the embarrassment? No way!"
Sunny growed again, preparing to have to deal with all the eyes that would be on him.
And there were numerous eyes, too many.
As soon as they reached the movie theater and he stepped out of the PTV, numerous flashes of cameras immediately started to attack his face. It was the debut of one of the most awaited movies of the decade after all.
The story of how a group of Sleepers survived and conquered a Death Zone all by themselves. How Changing Star and Hollow Death inspired the Sleepers to rise and defy Fate to go back home.
On top of that, they were the last daughter of the Immortal Flame and the only son of Song, of course they would be the most famous Awakened currently.
As Sunless fought to walk through the crowd of outlets and reporters that bombarded his ears, thankfully, he didn't understand a thing, so his flaw didn't activate.
He frowned and sighed, as his sisters also got out of the car, they were much more used to the constant spotlight, so they smiled and waved with practiced smiles.
Thankfully, there was a safety line that separated Sunny and the reporters, meaning he wouldn't suffer with pushing and shoving. Moreover, looking closely, there were not only reporting outlets, but normal teenagers among the crowd… Including girls that were fangirling over him…
"AHHHH!!!!!"
"THAT'S SUNLESS!!!"
"HE'S SO HOOTTT!!!!"
(Agh, why am I writing this…?)
Sunless rolled his eyes, annoyed, only one girl could–
He shook his head, too distracted in his own thoughts and quickly got inside, almost running.
Meanwhile, his sisters were having the time of their lives seeing their secluded brother suffering with the spotlight.
— —
When he finally got inside the VIP room reserved for the special guests, Sunny finally sat down on the white couch and sighed with relief.
His sisters were all around him, laughing at his misery.
"And now you know how I feel every time I have to make a public appearance to represent the family."
Eunbin was the one who represented the family in most public events, so she was the one that had to deal with this nightmare called social gatherings.
"Fighting a Fallen Devil is better than this… At least there I can actually escape! Agh… I bet the movie will be even worse…"
Howl smirked as she sat down and touched his shoulder.
"Don't worry little Shade!"
Sunny rolled his eyes, ever since he came back, Howl just insisted on calling him by this ridiculous nickname… He was the Heir of Shadows! A Divine Shadow left behind by a God, how dare she compare him to a mere shade?!
Howl's smirk widened as she noticed Sunny's annoyed face. Seishan chuckled lightly and sat on the armchair beside the couch.
"It can't be that bad Sunny, Kai marketed the movie, I'm sure…"
Seishan stopped talking as soon as she saw Sunny's reaction. A horrified stare that pierced her soul.
"K-Kai… Marketed? Did he see the script?"
"I think he saw a little… He said he could change a little since when he saw it the script was pretty much done, just asking for modifications to make Cassia's part as little as possible as per her request…"
If Sunny had any hope for the movie being good, it was just shattered. He pressed his hands onto his face.
"He is too nice to save his life. He probably just accepted whatever was on the script…"
Seishan' smile slowly disappeared, noticing the weight of her brother's words, and remembering that the singer said she herself also played a part in the movie.
She wasn't safe either.
But that only made Howl smile wider.
"OH, this is going to be a great movie!"
"You bet."
All siblings turned to see two women dressed in all black clothes that covered all their bodies, hiding who they were. One wearing a cap and a mask with her hair tied up, while the other was wearing sunglasses and a smile on her face.
Both holding a plate of popcorn and drinking sodas.
Sunny immediately Shadow Step and appeared right in front of Revel.
"You could have brought me with you! I wouldn't have to deal with all of that!"
Dark Dancer didn't even flinch when her brother suddenly appeared in front of her, her smile persisted as if teasing him.
"And where's the fun in that?"
A vein popped on his forehead.
"The is that we finally get to sneak around a place together!"
Revel widened her eyes, noticing that it was true, she did want to sneak into a heavily secured place with Sunny, it was something she wanted to do ever since he Awakened…
But seeing his face like this is also good.
"Heh, next time I guess."
"I guess?!"
Right then, before Sunny went on a tirade of curses, the entrance of the reserved room opened and a group of people entered, including Moonveil.
"Great! You guys are here."
Together with her, the cast of the movie and his… 'Friends'...
The director of the movie didn't even let Sunny register that the man was there to immediately go to him and shake Sunny's hand intensely.
"Lord Sunless! It is a pleasure to finally meet you! I was so excited to…"
Sunny ignored the rest of the man's speech, not even because he wanted to, but because he could only hear the barely contained laughter coming from his sisters behind him.
He looked behind the man, where Effie was holding her mouth, probably thinking of something inappropriate, Kai, who had a guilty look on his face, Cassie, who had her head in the clouds.
And finally Nephis, who looked like she had gone through even worse things than him. She was also forced to wear her [Starlight Legion armor].
When the director finally finished his speech, he noticed that Sunny had no interest in him, so invited himself out of the line of sight, letting Sunny approach Nephis.
"You were also forced here?"
The girl looked at him and nodded.
"Did you also have… Crazy fans at the entrance?"
Sunny nodded and scratched his head.
"Let's just hope the movie isn't too embarrassing…"
As he said that, Nephis turned to look at a poster that depicted the movie.
It showed the actress playing Nephis with silver hair on the right side taking most of the poster while the actor playing Sunny was behind her, with his back turned to her, looking back with hollow eyes that were obviously contact lenses.
The left side showed the Crimson Spire above the Bright Castle, with the various side characters of the movie, Caster, Gunlaug, Seishan… Cassie was in the very corner, away from the attention, as planned.
All with the title on the corner, Song of Light and Shadows…
Sunny and Nephis looked at each other, knowing full well they would suffer a lot in this movie.
All the while the Song sisters observed the interaction, judging Changing Star.
— — —
Sunny felt all his energy drain as he regretted all his life's choices while sitting on the comfortable armchair.
He was sitting at the center of the theater, in the furthest row where the most comfortable seats were reserved for VIPs.
Nephis was on his left, Kai, Effie and Cassie right after her, to his right, the director and some of the actors of the film. All of them were famous, the producers didn't sugarcoat the movie, pulling all stops, especially with the Government funding.
The best special effects, actors, director, screenwriter… All to make the best propagand- movie possible, even the famous musician Griffin did the soundtrack. The actor playing was also pretty good from what he knew, just a bit taller than himself.
The director beside him couldn't stop shaking, taking glances at him and Nephis, as if nervous to see their reactions.
His sisters were right behind him, having a front row seat to his reactions and embarrassment.
'You should be here too Shan, you are in this movie damnation!'
He sighed, accepting his fate of being teased for the next decade.
The lights went off, and the big screen turned on, the movie started.
The camera showed the dark night sky on a rainy night, panning down to show a lonely mansion where a light came out on one of the windows, the soundtrack sparked with curiosity, and a subtle triumph.
The camera came closer, entering the window to show a little girl with silver hair and grey eyes not older than 5 playing with some toys on the floor, with a tall man with the same gray eyes not far from her, the father, sitting on a couch. A broken sword on a stand not far.
Nephis was already face-palming, she only had silver hair after she conquered the First Nightmare, and was that supposed to be her father? Why was his sword on a stand?
The little girl then looked at the broken sword, her face twisted with curiosity and she got up, approaching the stand and reaching out to the sword, her fingers almost touching the blade. But the tall man with gray heavy eyes stopped her. Starting a speech about the broken sword.
Nephis immediately sharpened her eyes, already irritated to see or hear whatever nonsense they made the man who played her father say, they were already portraying him as neglectful for letting a sword close to 'her' as a kid.
"No, not yet, my child, one day you will wield a sword, that day will mark the moment where the Awakened rise against the tyranny of the Dream Realm. You will be the light in the darkness."
Nephis eye twitched, she could hear Effie laughing, Kai and Cassie were holding her laughter, the temperature began to rise.
Sunny meanwhile began to sink in his chair. He heard stories from his mother about Broken Sword, he was nothing like this! He would never say anything like this! Even his sisters seemed to hate it, based on the groans he heard behind him, his sisters also didn't like it.
The camera went outside, the soundtrack subtly changing from hopeful and high to a low tone, filled with suffering and sadness, depressing as they went out of the manor and into the outskirts. The camera showed the rotting buildings and the misery the people suffered, the rain coming down on them non-stop.
'Alright, say what you want about the movie, the direction and soundtrack is on point… On a technical level.'
Sunny really couldn't deny that fact, the director and Griffin really knew what they were doing… For the most part.
The camera panned down to focus on a boy wrapped around in ragged clothes trying to protect himself from the rain, walking towards an alleyway when he suddenly tripped on himself. Falling down, the torn clothes were ripped away to reveal a malnourished boy, pale, no muscle in his body. Rugged black hair as hollow eyes, as if the world was meaningless, a weak voice came out of him as he looked at the sky with an empty expression, not caring about the rain dropping on him.
"I hate this world…"
Sunny twisted his head.
'Huh? If that is supposed to be me, I never said that… More than that, my eyes only became hollow when I finished the First Nightmare, what is it with this movie and inconsistencies?'
The director suddenly became even more nervous, constantly looking at him and the sisters behind him, who were also looking really confused.
The camera turned into the first person view of the boy, his vision blurred. He was about to die. After a few moments, an umbrella protects the small, fragile boy. He looked at the owner of the umbrella, but he could only see a red, beautiful dress of a woman, never showing her face clearly.
"Do you wish to die?"
The voice of the woman reverberated inside the boy's head, and he answered.
"Yes."
The woman in red dress stood for a moment, and kneeled, picking the boy up and protecting him like he was her baby. The screen turned black.
Sunless gripped the armrest. What the hell? Sunny? Wishing to die? And why did it seem like the woman, who was obviously supposed to be his mother, talked as if she was testing him?
Sunny glared at the director with suspicion, who felt a chill run down his spine. The shadows grew deeper... The Saint sisters also didn't like te scene.
Years later, the camera showed the academy, focusing on a PTV that stopped at the entrance. Leaving the vehicle, a young woman walked to the entrance, silver hair, gray eyes, ivory skin, and a beautiful charming body. Nephis, the last daughter of Immortal Flame.
Sunny sunk into the armchair again, the actress had too much make up, pristine, looking like she never worked out a day in her life, no muscle in her body.
And yet, he could hear the admiration of the male part of the audience, admiring the actress that played Changing Star.
"She really looks like her…"
"Pretty… I wish I could date her…"
"She's available, no?"
Sunny crossed his arms in annoyance.
As the girl entered the academy, another PTV came in soon after, from it, a young man with dark hair and hollow, indifferent eyes, with a tall and broad body, big, muscled. He sighed and quietly moved to the entrance, clearly showing annoyance.
It was Nephis's turn to be annoyed, leaning into her hand that was resting in the armrest. Not only did they mess up Sunny, he was too muscled, too big, Sunny has muscle, sure, but he is lean, slender, in good shape, not a body builder! But she was also having to deal with the fangirls squirming in the audience.
(I swear I hate writing this…)
"Oh. My. God. He 's so hot!"
"He is the perfect actor! I need a poster on my wall!"
"He 's mine…"
The temperature began to rise in the VIP seats… Nephis was angry.
'In your dreams girl!'
Similarly, the sisters were chuckling, imagining how to tease their brother, until they noticed Changing Star's reaction to the comments of the fangirls. Intriguing them.
Effie, meanwhile, was laughing her ass off.
The scene changed, moving into the ranking board, where the Sleepers received the speech of Awakened Rock and the rankings of the Sleepers appeared, showing Changing Star and Sunless on the top.
And then, they focused the camera on a boy with bronze skin and green eyes, who looked at Nephis.
Sunny's chest tightened, he felt uncomfortable seeing someone who is supposed to represent his dead friend there. But he steeled his nerves and imagined it was someone else. Kai did the same, but it was even harder for him.
Rising to meet her, a dreamy look in his eyes, a sweet smile… he bowed and declared.
"Lady Nephis… A pleasure to meet you."
Sunny was very confused. Why did Caster look like…
Sunny paled.
'No… Don't tell me…'
The boy in the corner with dark hair, Sunless, the hidden Prince of Song, looked at the interaction and rolled his eyes, getting out of the place.
A montage began, days passed as the classes in the academy, showing Nephis training in combat classes, making speeches and inspiring Sleepers to get better, and Sunless jumping from class to class, never staying in one.
Until it ended, showing Caster sitting on a table, annoyed as he looked at Changing Star alone as a flashback showed him defeating Nephis, expecting to receive attention, only to be ignored. Remembering her beautiful face… That ignored him completely.
Nephis twisted her head to the side. They were making Caster in love with her? He wanted to kill her! Sunny face-palmed so hard, then glared at Revel… He knew exactly where things were going thanks to her novels. His elder sister looked back at him smiling.
Then, the scion of Han Li looked up to see Sunless, as always, on the furthest table, ignoring everyone and everything. An idea came to his mind, and Caster got up, going to confront the mysterious Sleeper that was ranked above him, to get the attention of Nephis.
"Fight me."
The dark haired boy looked back with a frown, irritated because of the scion interrupting his meal.
"Get out of my face."
"No, I want to fight you."
The confrontation took the attention of all Sleepers in the mess hall, including Nephis's. Sunless gripped the table tightly, not liking the attention.
"Get. Out."
Caster was not relenting.
"Not until you fight me."
Sunless sighed and cursed quietly.
"Fine, you idiot."
Sunny shuttered, dread creeped into him. Shadows grew deeper and his gaze pierced the director, who coughed nervously.
Howl stared at her brother with a smirk, she just gained plenty of material, because everyone understood how Sunny would be portrayed in the movie…
The scene changed to the combat classes, where a realistic portrayal of the fights happened, only showcasing Sunless being more brutal, but still displaying his combat power, defeating every Sleeper and humiliating Caster, but instead of complementing the strategies of the scion, the Prince was cold.
"Pathetic, you are weak."
'They are making Edgelord!!'
Sunny gripped his hair in frustration, cursing silently and leaning forward. The cast of the movie looked in shock, the actor playing Sunless looked away in shame, the man he was playing reacted like that made him embarrassed. The director felt dread consume him.
Effie and Howl burst out laughing as the reactions of the audience reached them.
"Hot…"
"Badass! I want to be like him!"
"What an asshole, I like him!"
The sisters of Song smiled non-stop, the idea of her brother doing that being very funny.
The director couldn't stop himself and asked sincerely to Sunless.
"Ahm… Lord Sunless, is there a problem?"
Sunny glared at the poor director, piercing him with a death stare for disrespecting him and his friend.
And Nephis was reacting very similarly because of the very next scene.
And in the audience, Nephis stood up and went out of the room, flashes of Sunless fighting and posing passing through the screen, she tried to hide it, but a blush appeared on her face, even if it remained indifferent.
Nephis was baffled, they were blatantly making a romance in the movie even though they weren't dating in real life?! And they were making a love triangle with Caster??!
Even the sisters of Song were confused, what the hell were they thinking? Oh well, if Nephis really did like Sunny as evidence showed, it was good teasing material.
Sunless sunk in the armchair, completely drained… Barely 30 min passed…
A few more montages later and the Sleepers finally entered the Forgotten Shore. The scenery was really similar to the real Death Zone.
They focused on Nephis, the Changing Star, fighting nightmare creatures with minimal effort, making a camp and resting… Until a group of Carapace Scavengers and a Centurion appeared.
She was about to be overwhelmed, until a boy with a dark cloak appeared and saved her, destroying most of the creatures.
As Sunless took his red odachi out of the last Scavenger corpse, he looked at Nephis, for a moment, time seemed to stop…
Sunny sighed, understanding that Cassie will have little to no involvement in anything, it was necessary after all.
Sunless agreed to team up with Changing Star, after a few hours, they encountered a blind, defenceless girl, Cassie, who was relegated to an exposition machine with little to no personality. The two leads decided to protect her, with a little scene showing Sunless' good side and Nephis making a small smile at him.
The two leads had several bonding scenes in the journey, saving each other, talking and making plans.
Sunny felt extremely uncomfortable, his face got red and he shifted nervously, remembering the real things that happened and the argument he had with Nephis. By the look of the girl beside him, she felt the same.
His sisters, meanwhile, looked at the two, Eunbin could tell immediately, they had a crush on each other. Changing Star really seemed to like Sunny…
Finally, after fights against Carapace Scavengers, Centurions and even Demons… They reached the Dark City.
And when they entered, the character of Effie was introduced and showed them around, she was a brute, muscles in place of brains… Dumb.
Effie's face completely dropped and Sunny's complaints disappeared, he was happy, the movie got something right.
Thus, the Bright Castle arc began, presenting the characters and conflicts, showing the Tyrant, Gunlaug the Bright Lord, his wards, and reintroducing Caster, who seemed even more eager to follow Changing Star.
Sunny rolled his eyes at his friend's representation in the movie.
But a brief scene of Sunless looking at one of the wards made him freeze, a girl with grey skin. They stared at each other for a couple of seconds.
This time, it was Seishan's turn to become nervous as her sisters turned to her.
'Please don't butcher me…'
Nephis then began her rebellion against the Bright Lord, gathering the Sleepers in the outer settlement and giving them food and training them to hunt on their own, making speeches to inspire them.
"Don't let the Nightmare win! Complete our duty as Awakened! Be the blade of humankind!"
Sunless meanwhile, scoffed at her plan.
"It doesn't matter how many useless people pile up, they are still useless. 10 knights beat 100 commoners every time."
Sunny growed every time a word came out of his character, especially because he could see through his shadow that Moon was writing down every time he said something!
'Why?! And why are people liking this?!'
The audience loved the edgelord personality of Sunless… For some reason! The guy was an asshole!
Caster snapped his head at Sunless and angrily snarled at him.
"Yeah? You want to destroy the entire Crimson Spire on your own? Lady Nephis has the best plan to–"
Sunless and Kai put their hands in their ears, not wanting to hear what the character playing Caster was saying, disrespecting the memory of their friend…
'A simp?! Is Caster really being relegated to a simp?!'
The director's eyes widened in terror upon seeing this, all the movie staff that was there did, the actors that played Sunny and Caster looked at each other, wondering what they did wrong.
The response of Sunless was simple.
"I don't care, I'll create a team that will destroy Gunlaug, without any dead weight."
Sunless turned to get out, but the voice of Nephis made him stop.
"Will you at least join the hunts?"
After a moment of silence, the hollow eyes of the boy turned, his eyes softening upon looking at her beautiful face.
"Sure."
Sunless left.
Nephis's seat was heating up, she was feeling all kinds of things, especially embarrassment because the audience was, once again, being loud!
"They are so cute together!"
"Stupid Caster, he's the shadow to her light!"
"Sunphis! Sunphis!"
Her face turned red, completely forgetting about the fact that the sisters of Song were right behind her, smiling at her reactions.
'Maybe… If she talks with mother…'
Revel thought, looking at how her brother was smacking his head against his hand, also extremely red. The look of the staff was priceless, the director seemed to lose his sanity every single time Sunny looked at the screen.
A montage happened, Sunless formed the Shadow Watchers, eight strong Sleepers completely loyal to him. While Nephis continued to strengthen the outer settlement.
'Wait, Motza, Nix, Mei… Where' s Kira?! Did they forget to… They did them relatively well, but seriously, where is–'
Four months later, the Shadow Watchers came across the courtyard of the Stone Saints. Two of which we focused on, one male, one female… The battle began, and the Watchers barely won, if not for the intervention of a man known as Kira, who saved Sunless and gave him the opportunity to get two Echoes. The only price for the help? Joining them.
As the character was presented, it was obvious that he was untrustworthy, shady, and terrifying, but Sunless accepted him because of his strength. The rest of the movie, Kira was the cold machine that only served Sunless because he amused the Knight.
Realization slowly dawned on him as he saw the movie version of Kira was… Also an asshole.
'Great, first my friends, now my most loyal subordinate, what's next? Is Motza going to betray me?'
Even more montages appeared, with the outer settlement slowly being strengthened, Gunlaug eventually caught on, and used a nightmare creature's massacre of his men as an excuse to kill Changing Star.
But she and her cohort were already gone, after convincing Sunless to join, the cohort consisting of Nephis, Effie, the charming archer, Kai, Caster and Sunless left the Dark City to venture into the Forgotten Shore, but they didn't leave without leaving a present to the wards that went after them.
Thus, the battle of the Shadow Watchers against the Wards began. The hunters fell, the guards fell, Tessai fell, and Gemma was left easily defeated at the hands of Kira. The only one left standing was Harus, who laughed maniacally as the Watchers left, their mission completed.
A montage of the journey of the cohort in the Forgotten Shore occurred, from the Hollow Mountains to get the [Dawn Shard], to the journey back.
But as they came back to the Bright Castle… The music became somber…
Sunny gripped his fist, memories came back to him… His bloodshed.
He didn't pay much attention to the rest, a recreation of the events occurred. The Fallen Demon, Gunlaug kneeling, Nephis's speech, their fight… His own character almost joined but stopped himself…
But Sunny didn't care, he did enough–
Nephis grabbed his hand.
His eyes widened, turning to her, she didn't say anything… She was just there for him. He smiled, and turned to see the rest of the movie, not letting her hand go.
He forgot the fact that his sisters were there, and for a moment, they were just proud of their brother. Even if he didn't know yet, he gained a girlfriend, one not too bad… Ignoring some things…
The rest of the movie revolved around the assault of the Crimson Spire, right after they showed Harus dying to some nightmare creature in the Dark City, the battle was objectively incredible, a sight to see, many died, many sacrificed themselves.
But the Sleepers triumphally charged forward, and reached the Spire, the Shadow Watchers sealed the Dark Sea, all remaining entered the Spire.
Finally, the final battle commenced.
Changing Star and Gunlaug stayed to face the Terror as all Sleepers entered the gate. The only two that didn't were Caster and Sunless, who argued.
"What are you doing here you idiot? Leave!"
Caster stubbornly denied.
"No! I must save Lady Nephis!"
Sunless rolled his eyes.
"You damn simp! She has no eyes for you, she barely acknowledges you–"
"I know! Because she loves you!"
The entire audience gasped at Caster's declaration.
The scion looked down.
"I know, but even so, I admire her too much to leave her behind."
Sunless widened his eyes… Then touched Caster's shoulder.
"Then don't hold me back."
Caster nodded, and both charged forward to face the Fallen Terror.
The movie then showed the final battle, wrapping up Gunlaug's and Caster's arc, both sacrificing themselves to let Sunless and Nephis kill the Terror.
Sunny smiled a little, if Caster is remembered like someone who died like this… Maybe it's not so bad…
The end of the movie came when both walked together towards the gate.
"You know… I'm a Song."
Nephis widened her eyes.
"I was about to die when my mother saved me… Giving me a world so different then I knew… And yet, I still hated it, thinking everything was a bother."
He looked at her, his hollow eyes now filled with emotion.
"You just had to make the world better, no?"
Changing Star smiled.
"No matter what happens, we need to have hope, hope for a better future, a better tomorrow, it's our duty as Awakened…
To fight for humanity."
Sunless nodded, and as they entered the gate, the movie ended.
But Sunny only focused on the hand wrapped around his.
'Maybe this wasn't so bad…'