Nephis was in her room in the Immortal Flame mansion, lying down on her bed face up wearing casual clothes, a dark book with white roots as details on her side.
She had her hands pressed down on her face, trying to control herself as an intense red blush appeared on her face.
'Damn it! Damn you!! Lightslayer!!!''
She was cursing Sunny's older sister over and over again. If she hadn't given Nephis the book, Changing Star wouldn't be in this situation.
To begin with, the idea was already preposterous, she just asked the son of the woman that helped kill her father out in a way, and she was still blushing about it! Regardless if she wanted to talk to Ki Song, regardless if the woman regretted her actions, and regardless if her son was really hot…
Nephis turned on her bed, pressing her head into her pillow. The temperature of the room started to rise, reacting to the emotions of the girl. She was like a childish teenager after her first crush talked to her, and now that girl was going out with him.
To top it all off he was really handsome, that beautiful face, as if it was made out of stone, the lean, yet muscled body, those eyes that seem so hollow yet so endless… Those lip-
She gripped the pillow that she was resting her head tightly on, almost ripping it apart.
'Damn you Revel Song!! Damn you Goddess of Beauty Lineage!!!'
Originally, Nephis wanted to talk to Sunny and the others about the Second Nightmare, planning about what could happen. Like after that terrible movie she saw last week, a meeting to organize and strategize, inform Seishan and Sunny about the Chained Isles and the history of the place.
But what Revel talked about to her after the movie… What she said stuck with Nephis.
"... Your boyfriend's sisters…"
The idea of being Sunny's girlfriend… Wasn't that bad…
She groaned loudly.
'Dad must be turning on his grave… What would he say if he was here? Would he support it? Would he punish me? Would he kill Sunny?'
She didn't know, she barely knew the man she called her father, he wasn't present for most of the time, and what little interaction she had with him had already been forgotten in her mind. So his thoughts on the idea of her dating Sunny, the son of Ki Song, would be a mystery never to be solved.
Nephis shifted her head to the side, looking at the book the damn Lightslayer gave her. 'Torns of Darkness', the book that, according to Revel, even Sunny liked, the more she read the thing, the more Nephis doubted that statement.
The book was a story about two nations' never-ending war with each other, and the love between the heirs of each nation, the Prince of Darkness and the Princess of Light. Cringe, cliche, and nothing out of the ordinary…
She read everything in a day.
'How can something be so ordinary and so good at the same time?!'
And now she was fantasizing about it, imagining her and Sunny in the place of the characters in the novel. Worst of all, the novel had smut in it. SMUT. Her imagination ran wild without her consent, fantasizing about the most sinful things.
He was Ki Song's son for God's sake!
'Mom… Dad… Please don't be mad at me…'
Her, the Changing Star, last daughter of the Immortal Flame…
Dating the only son of Song, the Hollow Death, Sunless.
The idea brought her dread, and comfort.
'How am I going to face him tomorrow…?'
In the middle of her private session of crushing on my enemy's son, she didn't pay attention to the knock on her door.
The door opened, revealing a blond girl using a blindfold to cover her eyes entering the room without hesitation.
"Neph, can you…"
"Get out!"
Cassie suddenly received a pillow on her face, being launched with the force of an Awakened Tyrant.
Thankfully, her Awakened Ability let her see a little into the future, blocking the pillow with her arms.
"N-Neph?"
"I said get out!!"
Changing Star was blushing, intensely, like a normal girl.
Many people thought Nephis was a serious, indifferent person who held little to no emotions. In reality, she was much more emotional than most, it's just that her childhood didn't let her express those emotions properly.
If anything, Sunny was way more emotionless than she was, his own True Name showed that.
But what could possibly make her have this kind of reaction?
"Neph, what is the problem?"
"I asked Sunny out on a date! And he accepted!"
Cassie froze, processing what she just said. Her brain shut off and went on reboot, the only thing it could process was:
'Huh?'
The fact her two friends were crushing on one another was obvious, more than obvious, the only reason they weren't dating yet was because of the history of their families and because they were both denser than a rock.
'More dense than even Kai, seriously, Seishan has a crush on you, ask her out! You don't have an 'my mom killed her dad' excuse!'
Leaving that aside, Cassie thought it would take a lot longer, after all, she saw a vision of them fighting as Saints! And they weren't holding back either, save for Sunny not using his Echoes, did they break up in the future or something?
But one thing is for certain.
"Is that a bad thing?"
Nephis threw her hands into the air and laid down on the bed again.
"I don't know!"
Cassie sighed as her friend shifted in the bed non-stop.
'This is going to be a headache.'
She went to the bed and nagged Nephis to get up.
"C'mon, you need to choose your clothes, you can't look like you always do."
— —
Sunless was sitting on his bed, trying to absorb whatever the hell was happening in his room.
He was just going to go out with Nephis to discuss something and talk about the Second Nightmare. Nothing more!
But somehow, it became a big thing, so big Eunbin called his other sisters! Seishan and Moon were now in his room, choosing outfits for him to wear.
"Aghh!! Sunny, why is your wardrobe only black?!"
Moon was so frustrated she began throwing his clothes on the bed, trying to find something refined enough to look presentable and stylish and casual enough to fit a first date.
The true problem was that everything Sunny wore was the exact same colour palette constantly, meaning anything would look too casual. For Nephis, it would seem like Sunny didn't care at all! Just another normal day for Sunless Song.
Sunny looked at Moon with a smirk.
"I ask why not black? It goes with everything! It is stealthy and practical."
His white haired sister almost jumped at him. The only thing that stopped her was their difference in ranks, despite looking like a delicate feather, Moonveil could very easily kill Sunny if she didn't control her strength, meaning the best she could do was get close to him while hovering her hands over his neck. Letting Sunny's smirk widen even more.
"Become a Saint already!"
Seishan sighed while looking at a leather jacket.
"You're beginning to sound like Howl, little sister. You wouldn't want to send him to the hospital…"
Moonveil rolled her eyes and sat on the bed besides Sunny, who was still smirking at her. Eunbin was sitting on the chair, looking at the situation unamused.
"How did it even happen anyway? Did she just ask you out?"
Sunny's smirk disappeared and he looked back at his beautiful sister.
"Not really, she just said she wanted to talk to me, I don't think she's really asking me out…"
"She is."
They all turned to the owner of the voice, Seishan put the heavy jacket on the bed and looked at her brother with a smile.
"The way she looked at you, the way she looked at you, it's the same way Nix looks at Motza, the same way Moon looked at Shin when she introduced him to us. Nephis feels something about you, you are just too dense to notice."
A blush appeared in Sunny's cheeks, instinctively he tried to hide it by leading his hand to his face, but it was too late, his sisters already saw it.
Eunbin sat up and touched his shoulder.
"Hey! No need to be shy, you two have been through a lot, it makes sense for you two to care for one another."
Sunny sighed.
"You know what the problem is Bin… Our mother, and her father… Even if she cares for me, will she really want to be with the son of her fathers killer?"
The atmosphere grew heavy, it was a good question, was it right to do such a thing? Regardless of Ki Song's regrets, she still helped kill Broken Sword, it wasn't something people could simply brush off.
But Seishan had an answer.
"She knows your flaw, no?"
Moon and Eunbin snapped their heads towards Seishan with surprised expressions. But Sunless wasn't that surprised, his sister was too smart, she would eventually figure it out.
"Yes, she does."
"Then she knows you are genuine, she knows mother is genuine. And correct me if I am wrong, but you told her how our mother stopped going after the Immortal Flame even though it would worsen our position no? How she stopped sending assassins after her, and chose other means to confront the Dreamspawn."
Sunny smiled, nodding along.
"Not in those exact words, but yes."
"Futhermore, she asked you out, she wanted to talk to you, if she really didn't feel something for you, would she do that?"
Sunny shook his head.
"I guess not."
Seishan smiled, grabbing a jacket made from soft material, giving it to him.
"Then go there and get yourself a girlfriend."
Sunny held the jacket softly, looking at it with a sort of longing.
Eunbin leaned on her brother's back to get a better look, weighing on him despite his instant groan. She looked beside his shoulder with a curious glance
"Hmm? I didn't know you had that one."
Moon unfolded her arms and shifted closer to his side.
"Isn't that the one mother gave you a month ago?"
"Yeah, in her words, it's compensation after she didn't give me anything on my last birthday… But it's for the cold."
It was a dark jacket, going until his thighs, with a zipper that closed to the right side.
Eunbin rolled her eyes, still leaning on Sunless' back.
"How come you try to trick mother then get rewarded? Especially over something as serious as… You know…"
Sunny sighed, not wanting to talk about Cassie right now. Luckily Eunbin asked about the punishment, not Cassie herself.
"It was my birthday Bin, and don't forget I had my own punishment to deal with!"
As consequence for trying to trick his lovely mother, Sunny was forced to train intensively with Frostblade with little to no brakes for two week, along with being grounded in Revel's room for another week, when Revel herself wasn't in the room. Meaning he was bored to death…
Originally, he was grounded in his own room for a week, but his mother noticed how easily he could escape, so the only place where he could stay in place was a place with True Darkness. To spare him the sensory deprivation and to avoid him reliving his trauma, he was given a Memory that gave him the normal senses as a mundane human… It was still hell.
Moon got closer to Sunny with a smirk.
"You say that, but you enjoyed yourself very much with Rev's books, didn't you?"
Sunny hates his flaw.
"... I may have enjoyed a few."
It was Eunbin's turn.
"A few dozen, right?"
Sunny really hates his flaw.
"Yes… There was nothing else to do…"
His sisters began chuckling at him, enjoying Sunny's dead-panned face. Seishan put her hand on her mouth to stop herself.
"Alright, alright, let's focus on what's really important, your date…"
— — —
The next day, the cafe Ivory & Ember started the morning like any other.
It was very popular among Awakened and Legacies, having an elegant, soft, and calm atmosphere that included serenity and a warm kind of silence. The floor was always clean, made from white and gray marble, with elegant walls that had a medieval feel to them.
It always had the presence of legacies and cohorts of Awakened wanting to meet and hang out, many used it as a place to date.
It all went on as normal, the usual customers, the usual payment, new customers, the occasional heckler…
But what was unusual, came in the afternoon.
Clara was a normal, mundane human. A redhead that decided to live a normal life as a waitress of one of the most popular and successful cafes in NQSC. She was good at her job and able to deal with numerous situations with a straight face.
However, nothing could prepare for her celebrity crush to be in the cafe the very moment she was working!
A boy with short raven-dark hair that looked like the everlasting night, hollow black eyes that seemed to show a well of neverending darkness, a perfect stone like skin with little to no imperfections. Wearing an all black outfit that made him look even more mysterious and handsome… His mere presence made it seem like the shadows became deeper, profound.
The Hollow Death, Sunless Song.
Clara's crush was there! In the corner of the second floor of the cafe, looking at his communicator with a bored expression. He had been there for an hour, only asking for coffee.
Clara could barely speak once she went to ask for his order, and now she could only think about him while having a damn blush on her face.
'Why is he here?!!?'
Everyone, from clients to other employees kept looking at the Prince of Song, girls kept blushing, boys, staring. And the famous Awakened just ignored it all.
He just sat there, sighing and shifting, as if he was nervous about something. Sometimes, Clara could see him trying to hide a blush.
Suddenly, something finally clicked.
'Wait… Don't tell me he's-!'
Just as Clara understood what her crush was waiting for, sounds of footsteps echoed throughout the floor, and suddenly the atmosphere became warmer, filled with even more life.
The reason for this was the woman who finished climbing the stairs, she was wearing a white sweater that wrapped around her lean body, blending with her ivory skin, black gloves covering her hands, contrasting her skin and sweater. Using a long black skirt that extended until her legs, the same color as her long ebony hair with braids on the back. Her fiery gray eyes were filled with indifference as she proceeded into the room.
All eyes that were once fixed on Hollow Death were now staring at the new individual on the floor.
The beautiful woman scanned the room, until her eyes landed on the Prince of Song, who was currently looking at the window, enjoying the simple view that the cafe gave him.
She hesitated for a moment, as if noticing something, before walking towards the man with confident steps.
Clara couldn't believe her eyes, the woman was walking to Sunless Song! Was she the man's date? How come she never heard about this woman? She must be important, if not, then why would Clara's crush be waiting for someone?
Clara's questions were answered when out of nowhere, the beautiful woman's hair started to change, the striking ebony colour slowly disappeared, chased away by a pure silver that completed her.
The surprised gasps of some customers filled the room as all of them recognized who the woman was.
Changing Star of the Immortal Flame Clan.
Clara shifted her gaze to the Prince of Song.
'Going on a date with the Hollow Death of the Song Clan?!'
That reaction was similar to all of the others on the floor. Sure, many, if not all of them saw the movie 'Song of Light and Shadows', which depicted the events of the Forgotten Shore. The movie showed a relationship of love between the two Legacies, so in theory, the scene shouldn't surprise anyone.
But after the movie came out, the director himself said in an interview that the relationship built on the movie was largely based on speculation of the Sleepers that helped with the production, not having any help from either Changing Star or Hollow Death. Many were disappointed, many more were happy to cling onto the idea that both were single. Boys deluded themselves on being Immortal Flame's boyfriend. Girls deluded themselves in the dream of being Song's girlfriend, including Clara.
But what was happening in front of her eyes… It shattered those delusions.
The Prince of Song looked up at Changing Star, and his hollow eyes didn't seem so empty for a moment.
They were dating…
—
Sunny had been waiting for an hour.
To be fair, he didn't put the arrival time, just in the afternoon, so he arrived early just in case. He could have just asked the time she wanted to talk, but that required more courage than he had right now.
He passed the time by looking through his communicator, playing games and reading webtoons he took interest in. Ignoring the constant stares he got from the other people, the redhead waitress kept looking at him like he was a Saint or something, it was weird.
Eventually, he felt something changing in the air, he looked up to see a beautiful woman approaching, her hair in the middle of transitioning from ebony to silver.
Nephis had arrived, and she was breathtaking.
He was used to seeing her in armor or usual casual clothing. She was still beautiful then, but now… It felt different, like she chose her clothes specifically for the occasion.
She approached and sat across from him, fixing her hair by putting a bang behind her ear. She sat straight, then looked at him with her usual expression, but Sunny could see a light blush on her cheeks.
"Sunny…"
Sunless just now noticed he was staring.
"Y-Yes. Neph… What is it?"
An awkward silence suddenly appeared in the air as Nephis hesitated, blushing.
"You look great."
A red tint appeared on Sunny's face. He smiled lightly.
"You look breathtaking."
The faint blush in Nephis's cheeks grew, and a little smile appeared on her mouth.
They sat there for a couple of seconds, not knowing what else to say.
The whispers around them got louder, gossip and theories surrounding their encounter began going around, people even started filming them and sharing pictures online, not caring about their privacy.
Sunny eventually grew tired of this and summoned a sound dampening Memory Eunbin gave to him especially if this happened, the name fit too, [Leave me Alone].
Nephis noted the barrier and a little breath of relief audibly came out of her.
"May I ask why you didn't put your cosmetic Memory?"
Sunny widened his eyes a little and looked to the side awkwardly.
"Well, I didn't want to hide myself… I wanted to talk without hiding anything, to just… Have a normal talk. Didn't work out."
"I… See…"
After a few seconds, Sunny breathed in and out, calming down, he straightened.
"Alright, what did you want to talk about?"
Nephis seemed to control herself as she closed her eyes for a moment and opened them, looking at him with her serious demeanor.
"About the Second Nightmare, I needed to inform you of the Chained Isles, including the ship we'll be using."
Sunny paused for a moment.
"The Chained Isles have water?"
—
As Nephis explained the Zone where they would do the Nightmare, including the flying ship the Firekeepers were rebuilding and the nonsensical adventure she went through to even get to the seed, someone else was watching them…
Among the dozen people who were looking and filming the 'couple', two of them didn't stand out. One was a tall woman with raven-dark hair, wearing a long black overcoat and leather pants, using a cap and a face mask while looking at nothing in particular, but still staring directly at Changing Star.
The other wore similar clothes, using a leather jacket and using sunglasses sitting across from the first woman. She was staring at Changing Star directly with a smirk on her mouth.
Silent Stalker and Dark Dancer were stalking their brother.
"She really read the book…"
The fixing of the hair, the posture, the make-up choice… Revel was enjoying herself very much.
Her sister, however, had suspicion plastered on her eyes, she clearly wasn't comfortable with this date.
The two secretly followed Sunny for two entirely different reasons, Revel wanted to witness her brother's first date, Caera wanted to protect her brother from whatever happened. Like she had been doing for the last months, killing the three assassins that went after Sunny in the Blightlands.
Silent watched as the redhead waitress of the cafe nervously walked towards the two famous Awakened that were talking. Entering the sound barrier and apparently getting their orders.
But for some reason, the waitress Clara, from the placket on her shirt, kept looking at Sunless, to the point Changing Star started to stare at the waitress with murderous intent, so much so the girl quickly left after getting the orders, leaving the 'couple' alone.
Silent sharpened her gaze, suspicion grew on her, her presence started to leak. She couldn't hear what they said thanks to Eunbin giving that damn Transcendent Memory that isolated the sound.
"Silent, I can feel your bloodlust, stop being overprotective."
Stalker let out a dissatisfied grown, she still didn't trust the Immortal Flame girl. She knew very well how revenge made people irrational, Changing Star could be as genuine as she wished, Caera wouldn't trust her.
"Take off this grimace and let me appreciate our little brother's first date. I had to postpone my own date for this."
Silent stared at Revel humorlessly. How did this girl get a date anyway? That Saint must be either insane or the perfect little knight to get Revel's attention.
She looked back at her brother, who had a serene, calm face, a little smile on his face…
Caera's mind went back to the past, to when they were mere children, when Sunless had just returned after he spent a week in that cursed Dollhouse. His fear, the way he clinged onto their mother, the look in her eyes…
She never wants to see him like that again.
"Don't you dare hurt him…"
—
Nephis had just finished explaining everything. Sunny blinked repeatedly for a moment.
"You killed a Transcendent? And a Corrupted being? With a wooden knife?"
Nephis nodded indifferently.
"You were stranded in a… You know what, I won't question it."
She chuckled a little, smiling…
Sunny couldn't help but admire, Nephis seemed to be enjoying herself, it was a rare sight, and he was one of the only ones who could see it. Who could admire this side of Changing Star that was so different from the warrior everyone sees her as.
Sunny smiled, it was nice, talking to her.
The waitress had arrived, still shaking and looking down. Putting the coffee and snacks on the table.
"H-Here. Your order."
Sunless couldn't even say thank you. The girl quickly got out, walking in a hurry back to the counter.
"What's up with her?"
"Doesn't matter."
Nephis said nonchalantly, almost as if wanting to forget about the waitress.
Sunny ignored her reaction and got back to the original topic.
"Either way, if me and Shan are going to do this Nightmare, we'll have to get permission from the Saint in control of the Citadel there."
Nephis looked at him with more interest.
"Saint Tyris, but why would you need to?"
Sunny sighed, politics time.
"Since I'm a Song, Valor will want to make sure I'm only there to do the Nightmare and nothing more. To preserve the image that the Great Clans are in harmony, they can't just deny me from doing a Nightmare in their Zone, but they won't risk me doing anything else. Meaning we'll probably have an escort of sorts, but since the White Feather Clan doesn't have a bad relationship with us, Saint Tyris probably won't bother much."
"Hm. I see… What about the Night Temple? We need to pass through it to get to the Seed."
He hesitated a bit.
"I don't know, Saint Cormac isn't someone I am familiar with. But I do know the Night Temple is an important place for Valor, there's a reason only Lost Awakened can guard the place. And my teacher talked about the Night Temple like it is the place where Valor made one of their worst mistakes."
Nephis's eyes widened a little.
"Can you tell me why?"
"He himself doesn't talk about it much, but he was once from Valor, and knows some of their secrets. Whatever they did there, must have been bad…"
Nephis nodded in understanding, grabbing her cup of coffee and taking a sip.
Sunny did the same, letting the warm taste fill up his mouth before swallowing. He couldn't help but savor it, much better than that drink full of alcohol Shin convinced him to drink.
"Ahhh, much better…"
"Than what?"
"What else? Beer."
Nephis stared at him for a couple of seconds with a face full of confusion.
"Moon's boyfriend convinced me to drink a can of beer, it was horrible…"
"... Moonveil has a boyfriend?"
"Yes… Is it that surprising?"
"I thought you would kill anyone who tried to date any of your sisters."
"Please Neph, I'm not Silent Stalker."
Nephis sharpened her eyes at him suspiciously.
"You didn't say you wouldn't kill him."
Sunny smiled innocently.
"You didn't ask, you just stated what you thought."
Her eyes sharpened even more, before she chuckled.
"Do you really have to be so protective?"
"Of course! I'm her brother after all!"
They continued their 'date', they talked about numerous things, nightmare creatures, Zone struggles…
Insufferable subordinates…
"I swear, if Lan and Merlin fight one more time I'm going to start calling them husband and wife!"
Nephis chuckled.
"And Effie can't stop provoking the Firekeepers… It's starting to get annoying."
They also talked about something Sunny was very curious about…
"Oh, right, Neph, can I ask you about your attributes?"
She hummed curiously.
"Hmm? What about them?"
Sunny opened his runes and went to the [Light Connection] and scanned her attributes.
Attributes: [Dreamspawn], [Nephilim], [Flame of Divinity], [The Fire], [Eyes of Creation], [Emperess of the Fire].
The first four he understood, [Dreamspawn] came from Nephis's mother having her when she was Hollow, it was her innate attribute. She gained [Nephilim] after the First Nightmare. [Flame of Divinity] and [The Fire] came from the Lineage of Sun God.
But the other two…
"You gained the last two from evolving Classes, right?"
She nodded.
"[Eyes of Creation] and [Empress of the Fire] came from becoming a Devil and Tyrant respectively. The first one lets me gaze upon the souls of both humans and nightmare creatures, letting me locate them and helps me find the easier way to both burn and heal targets, letting me know where the soul is more hurt.
The second one I'm trying to understand fully, but from the description I have some sort of connection to the ones who swear loyalty to me, but I just got it, and didn't find the time to test it…"
Sunny absorbed everything and nodded. If they compared to the nightmare creatures' evolution, the connection must be something like a Tyrant to a thrall. Different from his own Connection that came from his Innate Ability. So maybe, Nephis is able to check and oversee her subordinate's runes but not be able to do the other way around?
Either way, it's good to know they both get new things from evolving.
"Alright, thank you Neph."
"No problem."
Sunny finally noticed that the sunlight wasn't present anymore, looking out the window, he noticed it was late, really late. Night had come.
Most of the customers already left, and the employees were preparing to close.
"I… Didn't notice the time pass…"
Nephis looked around, also surprised.
"Me neither, want to leave?"
He nodded, getting up calmly and dismissing the sound barrier Memory.
"Sure, I'll follow you to your home."
A light blush appeared on her face, and she smiled.
"Thank you, Sunny."
—
As the lovebirds paid and left the cafe, Silent and Revel waited some moments before doing the same.
Outside, Revel appreciated the night and stretched her arms.
"That was a good one! Maybe in the next one they will kiss!"
Silent rolled her eyes, looking at her communicator, where thousands of online posts were sharing the photos of Changing Star and Hollow Death dating, meeting in the famous Ivory & Ebony.
Revel looked over and chuckled loudly.
"He'll never hear the end of this."
Silent snapped her head at her sister.
"What?"
She signalled Revel to follow her and started walking to the way of the Immortal Flame manor.
"What?! Sunny can take care of himself, you know!"
Revel followed her sister despite complaining about her overprotectfulness…
Little did they know, their mother fought the world itself to witness her son's date.
It was a good day.