The Transcendent man named Noctis stood there with a persistent smile on his face, not caring for the group of Shadows on guard bearing down on him.
"So? Did you see him?"
Sunny was at a loss of what to do, especially since his flaw was piercing his mind persistently.
He couldn't speak since he had no vocal cords, but he could still answer questions by gestures. Moreover, now that he noticed, the man kind of looked like his sisters and himself? The raven-black color was the same.
Meaning he had to say the truth even if he couldn't say anything.
Reluctantly, Sunny nodded to the man's question.
"Ah! Great! Where is he?"
Sunless lowered his weapon and turned back to where the body of the Shadowspawn was, now, all the skin had disappeared, leaving only a pile of black bones.
The Transcendent looked beyond and saw the body, suddenly, the bright smile turned sour as he looked at the body of his dead friend.
He proceeded to turn his gaze to Sunless, staring at him deeply.
'Damnation! I can't face a Transcendent!'
He currently had seven Shadows, eight counting Remnant but he was still unavailable. All of them were Ascended save the new one, Nightmare, but even then, Transcendents were just too strong, if this man was as powerful as Sunny's sisters… He could simply take out one by one and kill him in the end.
Noctus stared at the bones of his friend with a solemn expression while Sunny's mind raced, thinking of the best possible escape route. Ready to recall all Shadows and Shadow Step away.
Little did he know all of that was unnecessary.
"Ahh, what a shame, looks like my friend perished, I'm sure you feel just as much pain my dear Shadow friend… May I ask how he died? Oh, if you can tell me that is."
The Transcendent said with a solemn tone of voice, speaking frankly and without a hind of deception.
A hint of confusion appeared on Sunless' demeanor as he twitched his head sideways. The question perplexed him, why would he think that Sunny didn't kill the spawn.
Noctus seemed to understand Sunny's bewilderment as he did a sad sigh, giving him a sympathetic look and approaching slowly.
"Oh, don't worry, I'm very familiar with the Shadow kind, dear friend, unless you are mad, all of you are peaceful and care deeply for one another. Even the incomplete ones by your side care too much for you."
Sunny had long lowered his weapon and let Noctus approach, still keeping his guard up, but hearing the man intently.
'My Shadows… Are they incomplete? What does he mean by that?'
"Moreover, you look pretty sad yourself, my new friend. Even if you cannot speak, I know you weren't the one who killed him."
Sunless froze once more, but not because he was afraid, but because he was confused. He looked sad? He had no face how…
Why was he sad?
Sunny looked down, and began dismissing his Shadows. Noctis was no enemy, there was no reason to keep them.
Even if they didn't really seem to like it, with Saint clearly wanting to stay and Wraith looking up with worry. But it was better to be on the good side of the Transcendent. Each Shadow slowly entered his soul sea, leaving Noctus a little surprised.
Sunny turned to the bones of the being he had just killed for no apparent reason. His posture lowered as he began to crouch.
The Transcendent man stayed quiet as he waited for the Shadowspawn Terror to finish as he looked to the temple of the past Shadow Lord, where a certain steed once resided and was seemingly gone.
Feeling their presence in the Shadowspawn that was mourning the death of one of their kin… Or at least that was what he thought.
'If he thinks I'm not responsible for his death, then he may help me.'
Having a Transcendent as his enemy was not a good idea, but as an ally, he could not only understand how things are currently on the Chained Isles, but know the objective of the Nightmare.
So pretending to care for the man's friend is currently the best option…
Pretend… Was he really pretending?
The skull of the spawn seemed to stare at Sunny with the empty eyesockets, almost accusing him.
There was no reason, no justification, he didn't need to…
For a split second, he remembered the bodies of the Bright Castle, and the guilt he felt. Then at the Night Temple, and the emptiness of feeling nothing after killing so many.
And now, the bloodlust he felt to kill this Shadowspawn that did nothing to him.
Sunny grasped his head in a sudden headache.
'I can't feel like this… I already accepted that I'll have to kill a lot more people if I want to keep going.'
He took one more look at the bones of the spawn.
'Still, I can do my best to make sure those deaths mean something. Be it for the people under my command don't die for nothing, or that those who die by my blade aren't meaningless.'
He looked at the empty eyesockets of skull once again.
'Yeah… Not meaningless…'
He felt Noctis approach behind him. Seemingly having already accepted the death of the Shadowspawn, his smile returning to his attractive face.
"Well new friend, what about the one who killed him?"
Sunny turned his head to Noctis, and silently prayed that his knowledge of the Shadows triumph over any suspicion of the truth, and nodded.
Seemingly understanding, Noctis turned around to leave, going to the forest and intending to leave the Shadowspawn in the temple of his past Lord.
However, he stopped after a couple of feet and turned, remembering the unique sword of the Shadowspawn.
"Say new friend…"
Sunny shivered and looked back at him.
"Could you summon that weapon again? That crimson odachi."
Sunny stared at Noctis and twitched his head in confusion.
"Oh, don't worry! I merely wish to satiate my curiosity, it seemed like a fine blade."
Sunny looked a little uncomfortable, unsure of what to do, but since the man was a Transcendent and he needed some information, he did as he asked, summoning [BloodRaven] and showing it.
Noctis approached once again and looked at the blade with growing interest, to the point of appearing cartoony. Twitching his head around it.
"Mhm! Interesting, it is not that powerful, but you can tell the forger has talent!"
Sunny stayed still, uncomfortable and unmoving, his head following Noctis.
Then the man stopped, looking specifically at the hilt of the odachi, where the symbol of the Song Clan rested, a snake wrapping around a crescent moon.
Noctis proceeded to look at Sunny deep in the ebony face that showed no expression, asking a question with a knowing smile.
"Say my friend, do you perhaps know a woman named Seishan?"
— —
Seishan entered the Nightmare in quite a perilous position.
The body she incarnated in was in the middle of being hunted by multiple warriors she later discovered were warmongers. All wanting to capture her for some reason.
To make things worse, she was alone and wounded, apparently she was a notorious mercenary that fooled their Lord, and they wanted her to pay.
But that mattered little, now, she needed to survive. Luckily, she was the Heir of the God of Blood, simple wounds wouldn't stop her, especially if her enemies didn't know she could heal herself.
So she used that fact to fool them into a false sense of security, making defeating them easy.
But even then, that was only the initial wave, apparently, her crime was pretty serious, the hunts for her didn't stop, forcing her to constantly move and hide.
Once she was able to hide in a small, inconspicuous desolate island where the town had been recently devastated for some reason, she could finally breathe. She hid in a destroyed cathedral a little too familiar and was able to contact Sunny.
[Blood]: "Sunny, what is your location? Sorry for taking so long, I arrived in the middle of a battle."
[Shadow]: "N-ot… No-w!... Bo-d-y of a T-er-ror… Re-con-stru-cting…"
[Blood]: "I should have known… Where are you?"
[Shadow]: "D-on'-t… K-now! Jus-t… Forg-et… A-bo-ut… Me… F-or… N-ow… Re-v… He-lpi-ng…"
That was a problem, the only person she could currently know the location had been incapacitated, and it wasn't even his fault.
'If he needs to get used to his whole body again, he will need a lot of time. I'll focus on finding the others.'
Unfortunately, she wouldn't have much time for herself, because the incredible hunters had found her, and they forced a fight once again.
Backed into a corner, she used the full power of her Aspect, ignoring the consequences of her flaw.
As such, a bloodbath began, it was her against a squad of powerful, experienced Awakened… A fair fight.
As hunters, they used light armor, little metal plating, some even didn't protect themselves, leaving their torsos bare in their crazed love of the fight.
It was their death sentence, as a single scratch from Seishan's claws could kill them from blood loss.
But even then, it took a lot of her, she was already tired after days of fighting and escaping, and her flaw was making it even more difficult to think and plan.
But eventually, she defeated them.
The cathedral was blood soaked, the bodies of the war hunters were scattered around it, Seishan was in her monstrous form, currently devouring the neck of the last surviving hunter that had the right of his last words stolen from him.
She was pleasuring herself by drinking their blood, the taste was addicting, wonderful, insatiable…
Her elegant demeanor was long gone, her dress was dirty and disheveled, ripped from all the attacks she had received, despite being from the Transcendent rank, it had limits.
But even then, the Memory was absorbing all the blood that landed on it, each drop serving as fuel to slowly rebuild the dress to their original form. It was a way that Undying Blade found to alleviate Seishan's flaw, that way, the blood that landed on the dress wouldn't activate her flaw.
Even then, it was like trying to empty a river with a cup, there was simply too much blood. And Seishan was too tired to resist the temptation.
She drank more and more, after days without any decent food, it served to hide the hunger…
"You know, I never saw you as a woman…"
She took one last sip before sighing and turning, a pest was disturbing her feast.
An armed woman, tall, a wicked, arrogant grin on her face. Her metal armour covering most of her skin, the helmet covered most of her head, only showing her mouth, highlighting the smile.
"You are more of a monster, is that why you betrayed your family, mercenary? I bet that lover of yours really thought he could change you, too bad he was wrong."
Seishan couldn't help but scoff, the woman was an Ascendant, and clearly knew the body she was incarnating.
'Betray my family?… Eat trash.'
She may look like a monster, she may be a monster, it doesn't matter.
None of it matters. As long as they survive, as long as who she cares about, the ones that trust her, put their lives on the line for her survived…
She would be a bloodsucking monster that deceived all.
She stood up and flashed her claws that by that point were the sharpest as they could ever be. Tempered by the blood of all the blood that fell on it and on her dress.
The body of the Awakened she had incarnated in wasn't that different from her original body, apart from her facial structure being different and her hair being ivory white, the body of this mercenary was surprisingly similar to her original. A slender, lean body, only being somewhat taller.
But even that didn't matter, as her Dormant Ability morphed the body the same way as the original, so her combat prowess wouldn't change.
"Get out of my sight."
Her beautiful voice was once again distorted and filled with elegant danger. She was exhausted, she was thirsty, she was worried, and furious. Sunny was suffering and she couldn't do anything.
The Ascended huntress smiled even more. Letting a mocking voice escape her.
"Of course not! I just became an Ascended 'old friend', and I can't wait to kill this monster I found… You."
The huntress dashed with her spear in one hand and her shield in the other, raising the shield in an offensive stance.
Seishan hissed, and twisted her body as soon as the woman got close, slashing the shield away and thrusting her claws forward.
But the Ascended was fast enough to swirl around to meet the attack head on, impaling her spear on Seishan's shoulder, into a part where her dress was still rebuilding, ignoring the wounds she received on her own torso by Seishan's claws.
Seishan ignored the pain of the spear and slashed the Ascended's torsor that had already been pierced by her claws.
The result was a rain of blood that fell on both combatants as Seishan exhausted the last of her essence to finish off the huntress.
But the grip on the spear remained firm, so she slashed the pole of the weapon to free herself with her other hand and launched onto the huntress, slashing, piercing and tearing, using the opportunity to slaughter her enemy.
She tore through flesh and bone, letting herself be consumed by her flaw, she felt ecstasy as she began consuming the blood of the newly made Ascended.
The woman was arrogant, blinded by her newfound Rank, she had not expected her old friend to be this strong, and now she was being consumed by something that was supposed to be weaker than her… But now was the Heir of Beast God.
Seishan destroyed the armor, cleaved through skin and tore the internal organs. She couldn't take any chances, the huntress needed to die, NOW.
Left shoulder bitten, ripped.
Right shoulder pierced by claws, mangled.
The Ascended couldn't wield weapons.
Torso slashed.
Ribs shattered.
Heart found…
Some seconds passed… Until Seishan was finished.
She was covered in blood, her hair, once ivory white was now crimson red, her whole face was bloodsoaked.
The floor had been painted crimson red as the result of the massacre, and the Ascended was splattered on the ground, her chest destroyed, showing her insides to the world.
Yet a bitter laugh still came out of her.
"Heh… Heh… Once a monster…"
The huntress took one more breath.
"Always a monster."
[You have slain an Ascended human…]
Seishan kept consuming the blood despite it all being over, her flaw still being a factor.
She had long gone back to her original form, yet she still consumed.
Minutes, if not hours passed, and she was finally able to stop herself.
Breathing heavily, vision blurred. She could barely walk.
She stood up and forced her body to get out of the cathedral, doing her best to ignore the blood she left on the building.
She was tired, so tired.
She collapsed on the ground of the courtyard. Blood followed her like she was its Goddess, and her flaw made her crave for more of it.
'Monster… Is the Spell trying to mock me?'
To put her in a body like this… From what those hunters said, she was a mercenary that didn't care for others, only herself… It was like the Nightmare wanted her to feel horrible for what she was…
It worked.
Her claws returned to normal, the blood that solidified turning back into liquid and scattering on the floor, melting into the blood that already surrounded her.
It was a beautiful, yet dreadful scene. Seishan laid there, blood flowing all around her, enchanting her to drink it, but she didn't even have the strength to do it.
When was the last time she slept? She had been hunted for days, they didn't let her rest not even for a moment. Fight after fight, eventually she would fall.
And now, all she could do… Was merely wait for her body to recover.
Her consciousness was slowly fading as exhaustion had already consumed her a long time ago, despite not having any serious injuries.
Her vision started to blur even more, her body trembled intensely and an irritating ringing rumbled in her ears…
She forced herself to stay awake, but she was really sleepy at that point…
To make things worse, a presence was approaching her, a powerful presence. A foot appeared at the edge of her vision.
It was like the moon itself had come to greet her, a graceful and elegant presence.
Looking up, a man was there, all she could determine was that the man had raven-black hair, it reminded of her mother's…
"I thought I smelled a familiar scent! To think I would find one of my distant family members here of all places! And while I was sleeping in my temple!"
Seishan barely understood what the man was saying, she could only squint her eyes in confusion.
"Say dear, you don't mind if you do me a favour for helping you, right?"
Seishan was barely conscious, she could only sigh and answer with one word.
"Alright…"
Her world went black right after.
—
She woke up in a hectic state, jerking upwards to sit on the soft bed where she was.
Breathing heavily, she looked around to understand where she was.
An luxurious room, not as much as the Jade Palace, actually it was far from luxurious if compared to her home, but it was good enough.
She leaned backwards to rest on the wall, looking up and touching her shoulder where a scar was left.
Then, the door opened, revealing a unique emotionless doll with a strange dress. It was carrying a tray with a large amount of food.
Unceremoniously, the doll approached and placed the tray in front of Seishan. Right after, it turned around and left, closing the door, not caring about anything.
Seishan stared at the door for some seconds, deciding to not question it and looked at the food, smelling it a little, she could immediately tell it wasn't poisonous. Even if she couldn't tell, it wouldn't make any sense, why would someone save her just to kill her in his own home?
She delighted herself in the first decent food she had in weeks, and rested in the soft bed.
Then she just waited. Waited for her host to arrive.
After a few hours, the door opened once again, revealing a man with raven-dark hair and a crescent moon in the middle of his forehead. A pleasant smile flashed on his beautiful face.
"Oh! The sleepy head is awake."
He picked up a chair and put it beside the bed, sitting on it lazily.
"My name is Noctis, your distant relative, in a way, seeing you have Beast God's blood too. So I think were are cousins, or maybe I'm your uncle? Me? An uncle?! I kind of like it!"
Seishan gave the man an unreadable expression. It was surprising to see a relative of Beast God there, but seeing as he was willing to help her… She would keep the fact she merely had the Goddess blood, and that she was not a real relative. The man continued to speak.
"Either way, you were in quite a complicated situation, makes me wonder what you did to find the wrath of the ivory city after you!"
It was a really good question, she had no idea why.
"But thankfully, your uncle Noctis here was able to smell your stench from his big Temple two isles away!… Wait, that came out wrong, let me rephrase that…"
She shifted her head a little to the side. She noticed now, Noctis, as in the Sanctuary of Noctis, the Citadel of the White Feather Clan. So they were this far back…
"Noctis?"
"Hm? Yes?!"
The man was strangely eager, but Seishan didn't mind it, deciding to put up her strange, mysterious smile.
"You mentioned you needed a favour?"
"Oh, yes, that. Say, would you be interested in killing a bunch of immortal Transcendents to awaken a Daemon that changes people by her presence alone?"
Seishan blinked once, then twice…
She blinked multiple times, repeatedly, trying to absorb what Noctis had just said while her smile froze uncomfortably.
'Is this the main conflict of the Nightmare? Killing a bunch of Transcendents?'
What has she gotten herself into…
"And how do you plan to do that?"
Noctis' smile widened.
"I'm glad you asked! We just need a couple of knives that let them die, I already have one and I know the location of the others… Well, most of the others, there's one I'm split on the location…"
"And I come in how?"
"You help me of course! I know you are more than just any Awakened, I mean, you defeated a couple of Ascendents as an Awakened!"
Seishan couldn't help but sigh, she really got herself in quite a predicament, but Noctis did help her so…
"Fine, but I'll need to find my companions, will you help me?."
"Oh?! You have companions? Even better! What do they look like? I'm sure I can find them!"
Seishan's smile grew wider and more mischievous, and decided to play with her… 'Uncle'.
"I have no idea."
"... I'm so sorry niece, come again?"
—
A month passed as Seishan recovered and started searching the cohort with the help of Noctis, knowing full well she couldn't really go around considering her current situation as a fugitive, so she stayed in the Sanctuary while Noctis was the one searching for her companions.
It wasn't a full time thing, he had more things to do, but it was still something. She couldn't give a physical description, so she gave him a description of the weapons and armor they would probably use since Memories were far more unique and would identify them easier.
Other than that, most of her days were spent training or taking care of the Sanctuary itself. Which for Seishan's surprise, was called the Temple of the Moon currently.
Noctis found her quite the administrative master, and let her in charge of keeping the place in check, even giving her control of the dolls of the place. It came naturally to her, after all, she was in charge of the handmaidens for years, compared to the Bright Castle, it was easy to keep the Temple in check.
She took care of multiple things, especially of the stragglers, people with nowhere else to go, started to go to the Temple in search of shelter, as Noctis didn't really care if they stayed or not, so plenty of people were now there, so she also took care of them, many were wounded and needed help, not really minding much if there wasn't much she could do for them.
Until one straggler came… Someone who appeared to be beyond saving.
He was a man whose body was completely burned to the point it appeared to be charcoal, he was wounded beyond Seishan's wildest imaginations, blood flowing through his body and it was clear his limbs needed to be severed if he were to live.
Apart from the initial shock, Seishan didn't care much, he was but a phantom created by the Spell, why would-
"Shan…?"
The little weak voice that came out from the man left Seishan speechless, she turned to the man, who was staring at her beautiful red dress, a unique Memory, that no one else had…
"Kai…?"
Suddenly, a well of white, ethereal sparks appeared on the hands of the man, and a red bow showed itself to reality. Kai's bow.
Seishan immediately dashed towards the man to treat him, she carried him to her personal room and did her best to treat him with the help of the dolls.
It took her hours to finish treating him, but eventually, he was stable, unconscious, but stable.
Wrapped in countless bandages, without his lower limbs and his left arm, Kai was stable.
Following the procedure, he spent hours, days sleeping, recovering from everything that his body went through.
And Seishan spent all her free time in the room, waiting for him to wake up.
After some days, it had been two months since the Nightmare, she was in the room Kai was in, still sleeping, his face completely covered in bandages, only showing his only remaining eye, the skin around it charcoal black.
Seishan stared at the man who was in such a sorry state, the beauty of the archer was long gone, yet Seishan could tell he was Kai.
Then, she had finally received a message from Sunny.
[Shadow]: "Shan, I was able to build myself, I don't know where I am but I'm not in any danger."
She let out a breath of relief, that was good, her brother was safe, she could now sleep a little easier knowing he wasn't in pain anymore.
Seishan was about to answer Sunny before she heard a whimper coming from the bed.
"Mhm… Shan…?"
She turned to Kai, who was still laying on the bed, but his eye was now staring at her. Seishan stood up and went to let him see her better, a worried expression on her face that somehow still showed relief.
"Yes, I'm here…"
It took some seconds, but Kai's eye still widened in recognition.
"Hey… Am I dead…?"
"No Kai… You are alive."
Seishan's smile and happiness were genuine as she looked at the charming archer. She had multiple questions, but that could be left for a different time, right now, this was all that mattered.
He seemed to share that happiness as his eye gratefulness, but it was still twitching in pain, despite that, he was able to complete his question.
"Then… Why am I seeing an an–."
"If you finish that cliche line I'll no longer be your girlfriend."
A pained laugh came out of his mouth.
"Since… When you were my… Girlfriend?"
Seishan smiled once again.
"If you aren't against it… I'm not."
Kai seemed to freeze for a second.
"Wait… You're serious?"
"If you want proof… Survive this Nightmare, and I'll show you."