Jet leaned on the PTV, resting her head on the hood and sighing loudly. It had been a busy week for her, and she still had to deal with this situation.
'Hm, at least I'll meet that kid again, I finally got an excuse to call him.'
It was weird, but when she met the son of Song, something told her those two would do something big, looks like she was right. Thanks to them, four hundred Sleepers saved themselves from the Death Zone known as the Forgotten Shore.
And from what she heard about their accomplishments as Awakened, they will go far, so if she gets close to one of them, maybe she'll go farther then where she is right now. A cheeky smile creeped onto her face.
'I'm so lucky my friend is his sister's boyfriend.'
The son of Saint Cor was only in the Government because of his father's request, he had enough skill and power to be recruited by the Great Clans, and different from her, he didn't have a flaw to force him to stay in the Government.
But what was surprising was how he befriended her, for some reason, Shin went up to her and then became the only friend she had, even if the guy was younger. Wake of Ruin was more of a boss, her relationship was professional, Shin was the only one that actually called her to get some drinks.
She looked behind her, where the police were securing the crime scene and surrounding the building, some officers were constantly catching glances at her, you don't see a Master everyday after all, especially one of her caliber.
Soon enough, another PTV arrived, one of the Government, her guest had arrived.
Two men got out of the vehicle, one with white hair and navy military clothes, the other with black hair and a uniform of the same colour. The two approached Jet calmly.
"Good evening, I'm honored by Lord Sunless Song, thank you for granting my request…"
The Son of Song's face twisted in disgust.
"Please don't call me like that, it's weird coming from you. Just Sunless is fine."
"Alright then. Shin, thank you for doing this favour."
Shin nodded, and Sunless decided to quell his curiosity.
"Why bring me here Soul Reaper? What do you want with me?"
Jet smiled at the Prince and looked to the club that was behind her, now a crime scene that involved Awakened.
"You do know how our job isn't one that rewards having a sane mind. Many Awakened lose themselves and end up psychotic, unwell. And among them…"
"... Are the killers."
Sunny completed her sentence, which made Jet chuckle.
"Correct, a killer is right inside this building, and I want your help to take them out."
Sunless raised an eyebrow.
"Why would you need me?"
"Because the Awakened in question uses an Aspect related to shadows."
Shin widened his eyes, understanding passed through them, he gripped his hands and spoke out loud.
"How do you know?"
Jet's smile faltered, and she answered.
"The victims became Hollow."
Shin lowered his gaze, understanding that the culprit behind the crime was one of his acquaintances.
Sunny put two and two together.
"It's Shadow Blade Kurt right?"
Jet reluctantly nodded.
"It is where the evidence points to. And since he knows my abilities and has an insidious Aspect himself, I wanted the help of another powerful shadow user, who just so happens to be the son of Song."
Sunless sharpened his eyes at Soul Reaper, then proceeded forward to the nightclub.
"Fine, but just so you know, you are in my debt, also, compared to my family, you are a terrible liar."
Jet raised an eyebrow, but soon followed him, but not before looking at Shin, who had regained his composure.
"Don't want to join?"
Shin shook his head.
"If he is able to escape, I'll stop him. Plus, it may not seem like it, but I just killed a Corrupted Demon… I'm out of essence and constructs."
Jet sighed.
"Look, I know you were friends…"
"We weren't Jet. It's been years since I talked to him."
Soul Reaper's mouth became a line, not moving an inch, letting her companion continue.
"But I still remember the first time I met a normal Awakened that simply wanted to help people."
Jet didn't say anything, simply went into the club.
—
After talking to the officers on the scene, who treated Sunless respectfully and with awe, Jet showed the state of the victims of Shadow Blade Kurt's Aspect.
They were lost, their bodies were fine, perfect even, but they were without a soul, what made them who they were was gone. In this case, their shadows were destroyed, leaving them lifeless. Sunless could tell, he left many nightmare creatures in the same state.
Jet already had made the investigation of course, that was why she knew who it was and that Kurt was still in the building, another reason why she called for the Prince of Song.
Sunny shook his head, and asked Jet to lead him to the culprit, she nodded, and both went deeper into the nightclub, the Slatherhouse.
The Slatherhouse was a normal nightclub at first glance. The ground floor was the usual dance club, although now it was desolate and empty. Filled with nothing but blood and bodies, consequences of an Awakened gone mad, other than that, it was normal.
But Jet revealed the truth, the club was made for a very specific clientele, one with poor taste. In the underground arena, the floor where only VIP's could enter, fights between Echoes happened, the rich entertained themselves by making bets. Some fights were even between mundane humans and Dormant Beasts, the fighters were handsomely rewarded, of course. Nothing illegal happened there, which didn't stop Sunless, and his family, from detesting them.
"Are you familiar with this type of business?
Jet stated while they passed through the club, heading towards the stairs that went to the underground arena.
"Not exactly, my sister is though."
"Really? How?"
Sunny sighed, his flaw forced him to answer.
"After Beastmaster became a Master, one of the most popular and influential clubs, composed of the most corrupt and powerful mundane humans tried to hire her to use enthralled creatures in the fights."
"What happened?"
"The club disappeared the next day, along with all the corrupt and rich."
Jet stopped and stared at Sunless, who gazed at her with his hollow, endless eyes.
"Surprised that a legacy family did this? We may do some vile things, but we have principles, Soul Reaper. There's a reason corruption is of little concern in the Government."
Sunless passed through her while she kept her gaze at him. He turned his head to look at her and completed his statement.
"Moreover, my sister hates these clubs, if there weren't so many and if she didn't have more important things to do, she would destroy every single one of them."
Soul Reaper smiled, and curiosity got the better of her.
"Why is that? Beastmaster has the ability to control abominations and people like they were puppets for her entertainment, and from what I heard, enjoys that very much. Why would she hate these clubs?"
Sunless stopped, standing still for a couple of seconds before turning completely. A hollow gaze dawned on Jet with a weight of all the shadows in the room.
"Because there's no irony, no function. My sister enjoys when twisted abominations kill each other in chaos when they are supposed to be a united horde. When the very thing that brings humanity's blight protects them from harm. When the most loyal soldier betrays their master just because of lust.
These businesses have no irony, no meaning, they are just entertainment for the sake of it. Satisfied?"
"Hm, very."
With that, Sunny turned once again to the stairs, Jet decided to not ask anymore questions, following the Prince of Song down to the arena.
'Seems like Legacies are more complicated than I thought.'
—
As Sunny entered the arena, he took note that it looked more like a luxurious theater than a fighting pit. It resembled a stage that was surrounded by a protective barrier fashioned out of transparent alloy. Rows of seats were furnished with red velvet, and there were private boxes for the most affluent of the visitors. The whole space was sparsely illuminated, with deep shadows nesting between the areas of light.
And in the middle of that theater, was a man, his whole body was bloodied, clothes, hands, even the ground he was sitting in was filled with blood.
Jet found the lightswitches, and turned them on, lighting up the main stage, getting the attention of the man, who quickly got up, looking around with a bloodied face and bloodshot eyes.
His gaunt and unshaven, messy beard in his face showed exhaustion and a worriedness to take care of himself.
His head snapped to the two new figures in the arena.
"Leave me alone you bastards-!"
His face twisted with a hint of recognition, and then turned into contempt.
"Soul Reaper, they sent their favorite attack dog after me?! What an honor."
Jet's demeanor darkened, and a cold gaze pierced the murderer. She took a few steps forward.
"Hi there Kurt, it's been a while, you really messed up this time."
The murderer rolled his eyes and suddenly grinned.
"Yeah, yeah, I made a mess, but you?! You've been really full of yourself lately. What? A Government lapdog like you can't associate with me bitch?"
Jet ignored the insult and smiled coldly.
"Don't you understand what you've done this time, Kurt?"
The grin disappeared, and Kurt furtively looked away.
"Who cares? Mundane people don't matter anyway, they are just cattle for us."
Sunny gripped his fists, sharpening his eyes, he stared deep into the culprit's eyes.
Kurt finally seemed to realize the other person's presence, looking at his expression, then at Jet's, he suddenly laughed.
"Wait… You guys care?! Seriously? That's hilarious!"
As he stopped, his expression turned ugly.
"C'mon Jet, did becoming a Master give you that big of an ego? You know who I work for, and who you work for. You'll still be here, doing worthless things while I'll be a Saint you wench."
Suddenly, Sunny loudly sighed, getting the attention of both.
"Alright, I'm tired of this, you are delusional if you think you can get out of here scot free, throwing insults at her isn't doing you any favours either. No one is going to save you anyway, or avenge you."
Kurt grinned.
"Oh yeah? What makes you say that?"
Hollow eyes stared at Kurt. Sunny's voice came out cold and unfeeling, it made Kurt take a step back, it was like the boy was… A ruler.
"Because the only ones above the Government are the Great Clans, Song would never recruit you. And Valor cares little for broken blades… Like you."
The murderer went silent, slowly, shadows began gathering around him.
"Ah, so what. Nothing will change anyway."
After that, Kurt quickly moved with incredible speed, covering the distance with agility granted by his saturated core. Moving between the rows of the theater, covering himself with shadows.
He was fast enough to reach them before their Memories were fully summoned.
Jet's glave was moments away from appearing in her hand before Kurt threw a knife at her. The weapon came from underneath his sleeve, not needing to be summoned.
Inches away from having the knife landed on her face, Jet deflected it and moved away, spinning her body then dashing towards Kurt with the intent to kill.
But the Awakened had already disengaged at that point, saturating his body with essence, he used one of the seats to jump backwards and twisting his body to launch another knife while in mid air.
But this one was aimed at Sunny.
The Prince of Song felt a chill down his spine, knowing full well that if that attack landed, he would lose one of his shadows, and as a consequence, his cores.
He reached his hand just beneath the trajectory of the knife and held it as if holding a weapon. After a few moments, it seemed like the knife would hit him…
Suddenly, a white dagger appeared on his held out hand, [Moonlight Shard] deflected the knife and protected Sunless, he made sure the knife didn't hit his shadows by moving them away and wrapping one of them in himself.
As the knife was enveloped in shadows, thanks to Shadow Sense, he knew the trajectory and speed, making deflecting the weapon easy. Nevertheless, the attack still threatened him.
As Sunless deflected the blade aimed at him, Kurt smirked and a giant figure broke through the rows of seats, revealing the ace up his sleeve which even forced Jet to stop and analyze the situation.
Four Echoes, one Fallen, the other Awakened. A towering echo that seemed like a Fallen Rank, was vaguely humanoid in shape and looked like a mound of worn rags. It had two long arms, one with too many joints growing out of it. A creature covered in black chitin and had a long tail that ended in a jagged blade of poison falling from it and leaving smoldering holes on the floor. A creature like a repulsive mix of a human and a pale centipede, its limbs numerous and thin as bone needles. And a creature that resembled a marionette with sharp knives sewn to its wrists. The Echoes surrounded Jet as if hunting a prey.
Soul Reaper however, didn't seem that worried, rather, she looked like she was seeing how to kill all of them quickly.
Kurt seemed to know that, he manipulated the shadows, in an attempt to do something, maybe destroy Jet's shadow.
But he would never be able to do it.
Sunny knew the abilities of Shadow Blade Kurt, he himself had similar abilities, but differently from the man, he was the Heir of Shadows and the wielder of a Divine Aspect. Shadows saw him as their future God, and since Sunny and Kurt were the same Rank, coupled with how he was a Devil even more connected with shadows…
The shadows would never follow him in the Prince of Song's presence.
Sunless commanded the shadows to abandon Kurt.
He had once tried to command someone else's personal shadow, but he failed completely, the shadow was just way too connected to the person. However, Kurt wasn't using his own shadow, he was using the environment's shadows to use his power, meaning if his theory was right, it would be a struggle of control between him and Kurt to see who the shadows followed.
They chose the Heir of their dead God.
Kurt's eyes were full of confusion and the shadows left him, he tried to command, to control anything… But he couldn't.
Instead, the shadows stopped obeying him, and ignored him as if he foreign to them, the power he had used for more than a decade had failed him… No, rejected, as this was the judgement of the Heir of Shadows.
As Kurt was left dazed for the loss of his connection to the shadows, they once again enveloped him. But this time, instead of feeling comfort in the presence of the shadows, he felt dread, a chill ran down his spine as he stood in the never ending darkness that was in front of his eyes.
And then, he felt nothing.
Sunless appeared behind him, with the [Moonlight Shard] in hand, stabbing the shadow of the Awakened.
Sunny was able to kill a Fallen Beast in one blow if he was wielding a Ascended weapon, so an Awakened human would fall just as easily.
As such, Shadow Blade Kurt died the same way he killed his victims.
Leaving his body numb, and empty.
[You have slain an Awakened human.]
[Your shadow grows stronger…]
Sunny had no words to say to the Awakened as his body hit the ground.
[You have received an Echo.]
Jet approached Sunless as the Echoes disappeared in a well of white sparks.
"Good work."
She noticed the lack of expression on Sunless' face, together with his hollow eyes and the deep shadows surrounding him, it was a terrifying sight.
"Hm, your True Name suits you, Hollow Death."
—
Outside the Slatherhouse, Shin was leaning on the PTV, waiting for the end of the fight. He had left his coat and cap on the vehicle, letting the cold night freeze his body.
He didn't wait for too long.
Sunless and Soul Reaper got out of the building.
Jet let Sunless go, saying she would deal with the paperwork and reports, he had no objections.
He approached the PTV Shin was leaning on with a tired expression.
"Hard fight?"
Sunless shook his head.
"No, just a long day."
The Master chuckled.
"Yeah, I hear that a lot."
Sunny was about to open the door but Shin stopped by offering a metal can.
"What's this?"
Shin smirked.
"Beer."
Sunny stared at Shin unamused.
"I don't drink, and why do you have this? Does Moon know you drink?"
"Hey, hey… I only drink once in a rare while, and she drinks with me when she is exhausted. Plus, you need to learn how to drink."
"Why? I'll never drink, I'll rather fight a Corrupted Demon than intoxicate myself."
Shin gave a smile full of longing.
"Sometimes, you need to intoxicate yourself to deal with the world's problems. Order and discipline are important, really important, but you need to relax from time to time."
He offered the can of beer once again.
"So appreciate the little moments when you can do something undisciplined, they give you an anchor, reminds you are just a human. Otherwise, you become like Kurt, someone who let the Nightmare get to him."
Sunny considered his words, and accepted the can, opening it with a crank.
Bringing the can on his lips, the cold liquid filled his mouth and passed through his throat, and after swallowing…
"Pfffht."
It was horrible.
He couldn't help but spat all the liquid it was still on his mouth, but even then, the bitter aftertaste kept haunting his mouth. To top it all off, Shin was laughing at him.
"Yeah, I had the same reaction the first time around."
"What the hell?! How do you even drink this?!"
Shin smiled innocently with his eyes closed.
"With taste."
Sunny rolled his eyes as he got on the PTV, ready to go home and rest after the long day.
— —
Another soul shard broke in Cassie's hands, the crystal-like fragments splattered on the table as she sighed in annoyance.
After getting [Boneweave] in the Ivory Tower, weaving had become possible, but not easier. She was a long way from actually making a Memory.
In the original timeline, Sunny was able to make modifications to his Memories around this time, Cassie hoped she'd have more progress thanks to having more time, focusing on the art, and the memories that her future self sent to her would give her an edge, yet it didn't.
'Maybe it's practice, not knowledge.'
No matter, weaving was too powerful, she needed to learn, one way or the other.
Suddenly, her communicator started ringing.
Cassie knew who it was, the same one who saved her life, she picked up without hesitading.
"Lady Death Singer."
The artificial voice of the Saint responded on the communicator.
"Song of the Fallen! You responded quickly! As expected."
Cassie breathed in and tried to talk normally, leaving the frustration of her failures behind.
"Yes, could you inform me the reason for your call?"
The enthusiastic loud voice of the death seer pierced the blind seer's ears.
"Oh, nothing much, how's the progress?"
"Steadily, but slowly, its harder than I thought. Either way, in one month, we will face the Second Nightmare, and if your vision is right, 'he' will be there."
Hel laughed.
"Good! And if you play your cards right, he'll be an instrumental allie, or the cause of your deaths!"
"No need to remind me, I saw the possibilities. I won't let 'him' run rampant."
"Exelent! A reminder I can't do everything for you! Eventually…"
Cassie stayed quiet as Death Singer kept speaking… Until she couldn't stop herself, interrupting the Saint, Cassie asked.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Hel stayed quiet for a moment, before she answerd with a somber tone.
"Of course Cassie, it is the only choice I can make that will matter."
Cassie hesitated before stating.
"You're wrong. They will hate you Hel, do you really want that?"
The other woman chuckled at the blind seer.
"I told you didn't I? When we made our deal? We'll help eachother, I will make sure you live, and you make sure my family survives...
No matter the cost."
---------------------------
Made my interpretations on the Song sisters.
Revel.
Seishan.
Eunbin.
Silent Stalker.
Lonesome Howl.
Hel.
Moonveil.
Well, "made", you guys get what I mean. This is merely my interpretation of them, no need to follow.