Sunny sat at the edge of the ship, he wanted to be alone.
They were going to the Nightmare Seed, it wasn't a long way, but there was some time before they got to the flying tower where the Seed was, so he wanted to think a bit.
He even left Mordret's mirror fragment with Undying Blade, who was escorting them. The two seemed to have a lot to talk about…
Sunny looked at the horizon, observing, sensing the shadows as far as he could reach…
Feeling nothing in particular… And that bothered him, deeply.
Shadow Fragments: [65/6000]
'Sixty five… I killed sixty five people today…'
And yet, he felt nothing.
No regret. No remorse.
He only noticed that when things calmed down and he really began thinking about the battle.
'Was this massacre necessary?'
Was the killing of all these hundred Awakened needed?
He thought back to the Forgotten Shore, to the Bright Castle… To the plan he and his sister made…
Over sixty people died that day, almost as much as he killed today. And all that blood was in their hands.
He felt horrible that day. He felt responsible for every death. He even questioned his own Fate…
That day made him find a reason to fight, to make sure no one under his command, no one that he was responsible for, died a meaningless death.
He would value life, and give peace…
So he had his answer right? The Awakened Lost weren't under his command, Pierce and Welthe were his enemies, so they didn't matter. Their deaths had meaning because they were obstacles…
Yet he couldn't deny that in a way… He went against that whole promise, killing dozens without batting an eye.
Sunny wasn't a pacifist, never was, and probably never will be. But he couldn't deny that he could have simply escaped the Night Temple with every one without killing a single person.
So were the deaths of these Awakened meaningless?
It made sense to kill them, now, not only they had an ally in Mordret, but it also hid Nephis' actions, letting her infiltrate Valor since there were no witnesses to her freeing the Prince of Nothing. Mordret's escape would corner Valor and their want for Nephis to join them would grow, and she would accept, but this time, it would be on her terms. As a Master, she could do much more.
But at the same time…
He reached his hand towards his face, his fingers traced his own skin until they found his eyelids. As if trying to hold the eyes that changed after Awakening.
'Am I destined to not care? To be Hollow?'
If so, why would he care in the Bright Castle? Why did the blood on his hands matter to him so much?
'What does it mean to have a meaningless death anyway?'
As his thoughts drifted with the clouds, he felt a familiar strong shadow come closer to him.
"What is it, teacher? I thought you were talking with Mordret."
Undying Blade walked to stand next to him and crossed his arms.
"He didn't speak with me, it's like this mirror shard is dead, or he is no longer here, looks like he doesn't want to talk. Moreover, you are also my student, and something is bothering you."
Sunny sighed, and leaned forward, resting his elbow on his knees, not caring if he could fall on the endless abyss.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Not really, but that empty look… Its something I see from your mother from time to time."
Sunny sighed, looking back to the Saint.
"I killed more than sixty people today, and I didn't care."
Undying Blade stared at the empty eyes of his student. Then sighed, turning to look at the horizon.
"You're worried about your True Name?"
Turning to also look at the horizon, Sunny nodded.
Silence settled for a moment.
"I'm starting to think I'm a hypocrite."
Undying Blade turned to him once more.
"So much talk about not causing useless death, and I cause a massacre without batting an eye."
Some seconds later, Blade questioned:
"Why do you think they were meaningless?"
"Well… I could have done it another way…"
"Then Nephis would be forced to join Song. And we wouldn't have an agent inside Valor, or a way to rally Valor's remnants after the war."
Sunny turned to his teacher, uncertainty plastered on his face.
"What? You thought Ki didn't think of that? The girl cares for you, deeply, and if she becomes a main figure of Valor, then we'd have little problems converging both Clans after Anvil's death, well, less than we would have usually."
Sunny still sighed, regardless if that was true, his lack of care still bothered him. The Awakened were still people, he should at least feel something…
He looked down in shame.
Blade sighed, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"They chose to follow Valor."
Sunny looked at his teacher once more, listening intently.
"Cormac, Pierce, Welthe… They knew the risks, about the war, and what it means to be an Awakened. I knew. I knew Cormac, he had dreams, a life, friends, yet I accepted that I had to kill him, to protect you."
He gripped Sunny's shoulder tighter.
"The innocents on the Bright Castle… They didn't, they had no choice in where to go to the Dream Realm. Maybe that's why you felt different…"
Sunny squinted his eyes in uncertainty.
"Maybe… Maybe you are right…"
Undying Blade smiled a little.
"Alright, I have to go now, remember, in the Second Nightmare, you will incarnate in a new body, so before fighting anything, try to get used to the new center of gravity and strength. Be prepared, considering you are a Terror, things may be different."
Sunny nodded, and turned to get on the upper deck of the ship again.
"Also, here."
The Saint offered the mirror shard.
"I know he is… Different, but try to be patient with him. A part of me still thinks- hopes the little kid that I trained is still there…"
Sunny looked at Undying Blade… And sighed, grabbing the mirror shard and looking at his reflection.
"I'll try…"
Undying Blade took a deep breath.
"Thank you kid… Good luck, not that you'll need it."
The Saint pulled on his tether, and disappeared from the flying ship.
— —
Sunny sighed as they had just reached the obsidian island of Ebony Tower, having just passed through the inferno of heat that was the journey close to the blazing flames. They had been in the cargo bay to protect themselves while Nephis was at the helm.
He admired the dark tower with strange awe, it was truly a magnificent structure. The Ebony island was cut out of dark stone and floated in the endless emptiness, surrounded by drifting slabs of shattered obsidian. A tall and magnificent pagoda stood in its center, built of a flawlessly black, lusterless material that seemed to devour any light that touched it.
They moored the ship to one of the horizontal stone masts protruding from the island, and disembarked.
The cohort composed of Nephis of the Immortal Flame, Sunless of Song, Cassia, Seishan of Song, Effie and Kai. Along with some Firekeepers that accompanied them to make a camp on the Tower.
Walking across the obsidian pillar, everyone reached the solid ground and stopped, staring at the somber landscape in front of them in stunned silence.
Reaching the doors, they bid farewell to the few Firekeepers that followed them and entered the tower. The farewell was emotional for the soldiers that followed Nephis, a Nightmare was a big deal, and there was never a guarantee that anyone would survive, so bidding farewell to Changing Star was something that made them emotional.
The cohort climbed the stairs of the tower, passing through the levels with relative haste as per Cassie's request.
Sunny didn't quite understand, until he saw the halls of runes with his dark vision, it seemed like the sorcery affected the seer. A pity, he would have liked to understand them, maybe he would finally learn how to do sorcery, one more tool in his arsenal.
'Another time.'
Finally, they reached the last level, and drowned the stone arch of a portal with divine flame, according to Nephis and Cassie, it was there where they would reach the Ivory Tower, the place they would reach the Nightmare Seed.
Nephis summoned a sword, the [Cruel Sight] and started feeding her soul essence to it.
The next second, a portal appeared, and they went through it without hesitation. In the next moment, they were standing inside a graceful white gazebo, a portal disappearing behind them.
They had reached the Ivory Tower.
Slates of shattered marble floated around it. There was a beautiful meadow near the gazebo, and a peaceful grove of trees, their branches rustling under the gentle wind. Some distance away, connected to the gazebo by a stone path, stood the magnificent pagoda built out of pristine white material that was neither stone nor wood.
And around the island, bones of a dead dragon lay, reflecting the radiant light of the sun.
"I wonder what killed that…"
"Maybe it was your scary teacher! I felt that attack of his two islands away…"
Sunny turned to Effie with a dead-panned expression.
"Don't be silly, if it had been him, there would be no bones left."
Effie stared at Sunny with a horrified expression.
"How are you normal with teachers and sisters like that? All of them are scary!"
Sunny chuckled, smiling wickedly.
"You don't know anything, wait until you meet Frostblade! I once had to climb an entire frozen mountain when I was ten as part of her training, another, I had to fight her as a mundane human! Oh, and another time…"
As they walked past the clear lake and through the jaws of the great beast, the cohort's face became more and more filled with dread as Sunny told the tales of his training with Frostblade, with the exception of Seishan, of course, who passed through the same training.
"... There was also a time where she forced me to fight while I had almost all my senses blocked. I couldn't see, hear, smell, I could only feel touch. And it was against a nightmare creature… It was a Dormant, but still…"
Even Nephis was spooked, in the end of everything, all they heard was the confident voice of Seishan.
"It 's true."
Everyone turned to Kai, who had the most horrified face in existence.
"Y-Yes… It's all true…"
They finally reached the main chambers, freezing as they were overwhelmed with fatigue.
Seven chains lay on the pristine white floor in front of them, each ending in a broken shackle. The shackles were marred and torn, their mangled surface inscribed with a myriad of runes.
A rift in the fabric of reality, one that could devour even light itself was in the middle, the Seed of the Second Nightmare.
And with it, they could feel the insidious call of the Nightmare.
They would answer.
They approached the Seed, they had prepared, they were ready. It's only a Second Nightmare after all, nothing to be worried about.
But in the middle of the walk, Sunny stopped, looking down in deep thought.
The cohort turned to him, puzzled by the hesitation.
"What is it brother?"
"... I was thinking of Caster… I wish he was here…"
After thinking so much about the Forgotten Shore, his mind inevitably went to his old friend he couldn't save…
He would have made an excellent companion…
The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy, none knew what to say…
Until Kai approached him and touched his shoulder.
Looking up, Sunny saw the sympathetic smile of the charming archer.
"Let's do this, for him."
"... Don't say it like that!"
Both let out a low laugh.
Sunny looked at the Seed. Steeling his resolve, he breathed deeply and let out a sigh.
"Let's go."
They stepped forward, and one after the other, they entered the rift, finding themselves in eternal darkness, surrounded by nothingness.
The voice of the Spell thundered.
[Awakened! Prepare for your Second Trial…]
[Seven brave ones… Welcome to the Nightmare!]
Sunny scoffed slightly as he heard it.
'So you did come, Mordret.'
The darkness moved, and became something else…
— —
In the grand Song manor, Rain locked herself in the room of her older brother ever since she came back from her home, her old home.
It wasn't safe anymore, she wasn't safe. Now Valor knew who she was, and they would stop at nothing to kill another potential threat to them.
Apparently, the thing that gave it all away was the fact Song was too thorough in their destruction of Valor's spy network, now that Motza revealed most, if not all agents in their control, Valor was forced to adapt and find new ways to target their rival.
And the only organization that passed through both Clans… Was the Government.
By switching their efforts from the Dream Realm to the waking world, Valor focused on all Song activity that passed through the Government, trying to get something out of it.
It was a long shot, Song wasn't foolish enough to pass crucial information to their agents that, in the end, only served as messengers. Neither were they holding key information on the relatively unprotected bases if compared to the Dream Realm. Even going to people like Master Shin and Saint Cor was a fool's errand, knowing both were wise as to not interfere with the Great Clans.
But in their long shot… One agent noticed a certain irregularity.
A PTV far too luxurious going to a Government Academy and returning to the Song manor.
A new student that was never seen on campus.
Parents far too normal to have any leverage or importance.
A certain resemblance to the only son of Song.
And a Master with high status and a girlfriend in the form of Moonveil passing the paperwork.
They were subtle things, things that they wouldn't question much normally…
But they were out of options. They needed information fast, and they didn't have enough time to remake the training of their spies.
So they went to the long shot. And found parents with little to no information, so they waited for the girl herself…
Right after getting rid of the irrelevant mundane humans.
Eunbin had just finished relaying all the information to her mother, who was in the waking world for a rare instance.
They were in a small room where a white crib stood in the middle, in it, a small newborn baby was there, sleeping.
Ki Song looked at the fragile little boy, and sighed deeply. Eunbin gritted her teeth in frustration, if only she'd been faster…
She turned to her mother, observing her red eyes with a silent pleading.
"What will we do?"
Ki Song didn't answer for a few moments, but she took a step forward and touched her hand gently on the wooden crib.
"What else? We need to take care of them."
"You mean…"
Ki Song leaned in and carefully wrapped her hands around the little body of the boy, holding him close, making sure the sword on her chest didn't touch him.
He was quiet, peaceful… Frail…
She had never raised a child this young, but Ki Song was the one that guaranteed their safety, and she had failed. The least she could do was take care of their children…
Like they were her own…
She turned to her daughter who had a grateful look in her eyes.
"Grab her things… I'll talk to the girl… To Rain."
Eunbin stood still for a moment, before waking up and quickly nodding.
"As you wish mother."
She turned and left the room.
Ki Song looked down, admiring the sleeping boy in her arms…
She never had the… Chance to have this kind of child in her arms, and she couldn't even enjoy it.
Not only was she carrying the child of parents that just died, but she was still fighting the waking world to just be there.
Not only that, as a Sovereign, her attention was split between hundreds of puppets that could not be left alone. From battlefields to administrative work, she had to do too much.
She couldn't just be a mother…
Yet she had to be, it was the only thing keeping her humanity alive.
She gritted her teeth, this had to happen right after Sunny entered the Second Nightmare, now, he couldn't be here to console his sister, and Ki Song's daughters were occupied in missions, none of them could be with her. Even Bin could just remind the little girl of the scene…
It was time to finally talk with the little sister of her son.
She turned back to the crib and laid the little boy back down, she would decide how she would raise him later.
Walking out of the small room, she passed through the luxurious halls of her home, her grand home…
To think she was able to acquire all of this, she was no heir of a Great Legacy, not born into a Divine Lineage… She got it all with her own two hands, she found the Lineage of Beast God, she became a Sovereign and one of the rulers of Humanity…
And now, she would carry more children who lost their parents… Just like her.
When she arrived at the door of the room, she could hear the cries of the little girl, probably weeping on the bed of her big brother.
Ki Song sighed, and knocked on the door gently.
"Go away!"
Anger, of course she was angry, she was grieving. But she needed help.
So Ki Song opened the door anyway. There was no lock that could hold her, the system of the lock had already identified her.
When Rain noticed the door opening, she snapped her head towards it and shouted in anger.
"I said go–!"
Her words died as she saw the woman who had walked in.
She froze, it had not been the first time Rain saw Ki Song, but it was the first time she was alone in the same room.
And what a sorry state she was, eyes swollen, red, tears still passing through her cheeks…
Yet Ki Song paid no mind to her state, she only walked forward and sat on the bed.
Rain stared at the Sovereign, and an unconscious fear rose up in her. It was like she was seeing a corpse, the sword embedded on her chest made it obvious, but her presence, beauty and eyes…
"Rain."
Her voice was ethereal, yet at the same time beautiful and gentle.
The little girl stiffened, still sniffing her tears. But she tried to regain her composure.
"Y-Yes…?"
Sunny had always shown gratefulness when speaking of Ki Song, saying how he saw her as his mother along with their birth mother.
But seeing her here, like this…
"Forgive me."
Rain felt a chill run through her spine, she… Asked for forgiveness?
"I wasn't careful enough. And your parents paid the price."
Rain stared at her for a couple of moments, before breathing deeply and cleaning her face with the sleeves of her shirt. She then shifted closer, sitting beside Ki Song.
Silence proceeded, until Rain asked a question.
"What now?"
"Now… Now I uphold the promise I made to your mother."
Rain looked up at Ki Song, who had a sorrowful look in her eyes. The sorrow was slowly replaced by cold wrath.
"Now, I will make sure you survive. And make Anvil pay for what he did."
Rain widened her eyes, and gazed at Ki Song with a pleading look.
"Ms. Song?"
The woman turned to the girl, the wrath in her eyes vanishing as she did, being replaced with a gentle gaze and a kind smile.
"No need to call me Miss, Rain."
Rain hesitated, but nodded.
"Are you going to adopt me? And my baby brother?"
Ki Song stared at those black eyes that were once similar to the eyes of her son.
"Only if you wish so."
Rain gritted her teeth, looking down, she closed her eyes.
"Please, let me fight. I want to-"
She went quiet when cold arms wrapped around her. Ki Song had embraced the little girl.
It was strange, despite her body being cold, all that Rain could feel was warmth…
Rain hugged Ki Song back, and they stayed as such for as long as the world allowed it.