Following Noctis to his Temple of the Moon, which was the past name of the Sanctuary of Noctis of the Dream Realm, was… A unique experience.
Especially because he insisted on using Dreadwing.
"I mean, it is not every day that you can ride on top of a raven! I can fly by myself of course, but on top of a beast like this?!"
Sunless stared at Noctis emotionallessly, well, not that he could express any emotion. Serpent was manifested around his neck, having shrunk himself to do so, he was also staring at Noctis.
"Nevertheless, let's change topics, so, I know you can't talk because of the whole 'being made of shadows thing', so I, the great Noctis, will only ask yes or no questions! Don't you think I am generous to my new friend?!"
Sunny looked at Serpent, who looked back at him for a second before turning to Noctis and shaking his head in disappointment. Sunny shared his Shadow's opinion nodding to him.
But Noctis didn't seem to understand that…
"Excellent! I'm glad to have such a perceptive friend!"
Sunny snapped his head to him in pure bafflement, but Noctis promptly ignored, seemingly thinking he was right.
"So my friend, as I said, Seishan is in my Temple since she can't exactly leave for now, she asked me to find her companions and friends. And as the great Uncle that I am, of course I said yes!"
Sunny's and Serpent's heads tilted to the right comically in pure confusion, it was so obvious that a question mark seemed to appear on the top of their heads.
'Uncle?! How in the name of all that is Holy, is that possible?'
Thankfully, Noctis noticed.
"Oh, you shouldn't know but I am the great-grandson of the Goddess of the Moon! And little Shan is also related to her! Having the same blood and all, although I have no idea how the family tree is… But seeing the age difference, she must be my niece!"
Sunny pretended to sigh and reached his hand to his face.
Of course… Seishan played this guy like a doll. Despite being the Heirs of Beast God, the Song family weren't exactly related to the Goddess, so from a certain perspective, they had nothing to do with Noctis…
But either way, this was good, if he really thought they were family, or thought that merely having the same blood was enough to be family, he would help them much more, and the Nightmare would be easier.
Sunny turned to Noctis once again, who smiled at him.
"So, for my questions, you are a Shadowspawn, one of my niece's companions, correct?"
Sunny nodded.
"Alright! You know where your other friends are?"
Sunny shook his head.
"Ahh… I've been looking for them for weeks! Do you at least know what they look like? I have no idea why she doesn't know. How do you not know what the person that you trust with your life looks like?!"
Sunny shifted uncomfortably, and shook his head.
"Really? Agh…"
Noctis rolled his eyes for a moment and returned to his usual lively attitude.
"No matter! Hey, to save time, want to know about the favour my niece needs to pay for me? The reason she wants all of her companions together."
Sunny slowly turned his head, curious, and nodded.
'A favor? What did he do for Shan? Well, it must be something to do with the central conflict of the Nightmare.'
Noctis smiled widely.
"I'm glad! And remember, you can't say no good friend!"
Sunny nodded along, shaking his hand in a gesture to make Noctis say something already.
"Anxious huh? So how about you help me kill four immortal Transcendents to release the Daemon trapped in the ivory city?"
Sunny froze, completely. Snapping his head to Noctis.
The Transcendent proceeded to explain the whole situation of the current Chained Isles, which was called by another name…
The Kingdom of Hope.
He explained the Chain Lords and the influence of the imprisoned Daemon of Desire had slowly changed the citizens and the Lords of the Kingdom, and how now, Noctis wanted to free her.
Somehow, Sunny could make a body language that asked:
Why?
"I'm kind of tired, being immortal is such a bore, you know? So why not kill myself while doing something interesting?!"
Sunny gave him a long look.
"Hey! Don't look at me like that! It won't be that bad, I know how to make them mortal! And I saved little Shan's life! I do deserve the little favor!"
Sunless twitched his head to the side, Serpent basically showed his emotion, opening its mouth in pure bewilderment.
A part of him was glad, she was safe and had been saved by this Transcendent. The other? Was completely baffled.
'Shan… What did you put us into?!'
Thankfully, he would know soon, they had arrived in the Temple of the Moon.
—
Noctis led Sunny through the Temple of the Moon while still talking…
"So do you think I have a nephew too? I always wanted a boy to spoil a bit, I mean, I could have made a little kid of my own, but I have yet to find a woman that can match my modesty…"
After minutes of hearing Noctis talk, and talk, he couldn't help but face palm quickly. The impact was so hard that his shadow made face rippled and distorted, he had to rebuild himself immediately after.
It's not that Noctis was annoying, he was, but the fact that he just couldn't stop!
"My friend? What is the problem? Oh, right, you cannot tell me…"
Noctis looked around with his fingers touching his chin, as if he was thinking about something, until he looked at a door and widened his eyes, realization appearing in them.
"Ah! I have just the thing! But on other things, little Shan is just here my friend, with another man I have no idea who is. She does take care of some of the stragglers that come here but she never really cared for any of them… Oh, well, she seems to trust him so… See you soon, friend!"
As Noctis happily walked away, Sunny could only think one thing.
'May you take some hours.'
He sighed internally and turned to the door, he was kind of anxious. Seishan had yet to answer his message, and he wondered who she could possibly be with?
Sunny left those questions to the side and proceeded to knock on the door, after a few seconds, the voice of a graceful woman came out, letting him enter. He opened the door and entered the room.
It was relatively big, nothing like his quarters on the Jade Palace, but it was still a marvel in itself.
But that mattered little, what really catched his eye was the two people who were there, a beautiful young woman that was sitting next to the bed, and a completely bandaged man laying in the bed.
The woman was slender, wearing a familiar red dress that wrapped on her figure and highlighted her attractive body. She had ivory white long hair and hid a little of her light red eyes. Her white skin striking to the eyes, looking like a vampire.
The man meanwhile, had missing limbs, the only one remaining being his right hand. His body was completely wrapped in white bandages, only revealing little parts that showed his burnt charcoal skin and some of his horrific scarred face.
The woman perked up upon seeing the dark uniform.
"Sunny…?"
He suddenly felt uncomfortable and scratched the back of his head, looking back at the woman and nodding.
Seishan smiled and got up, walking rapidly to Sunny.
She pulled him into a hug, wrapping her hands around his torso. He did his best to keep his body whole to hug her back tightly, feeling warmth despite not being able to feel touch.
The hug was tight, long, and comforting, after months of the siblings feeling constant pain and exhaustion, having finally found each other…
Was really good.
After a few more seconds, they finally parted the hug.
"Are you alright?"
Sunny nodded again, which made her raise her brow.
"Why aren't you talking?"
He looked up, as if pretending to groan upon hearing a difficult question.
Looking back at his sister, he pointed at his neck and made a negative motion, then opened his runes and sent a message to her.
[Shadow]: "I am made of shadow mist, I don't have vocal cords, so I can't talk."
Seishan looked at her own runes and a hint of realization passed her face. She looked up at him again and sighed, but a tired smile still managed to appear.
"At least you are whole. Good to have you back."
Sunny smiled internally, he had really missed his sister.
Turning around, Seishan pointed at the man who was lying down on the bed and had a happy smile on his horrific bandaged face.
"And that… Is Kai."
The statement made Sunny pause for a moment, turning constantly between his sister and the man who she declared as Kai, he couldn't believe it.
The charming archer, one of the members of Night&Gale, the man that was so handsome, famous and kind that made so many women fall in love with him with a single look, his best friend…
Was this broken man?
Kai waved at Sunny with an embarrassed, sad smile.
"Hey Sunny… I look pretty bad, but be sure that I won't slow us–"
He suddenly began to cough, it was a rough, pained cough. He was still in pretty bad shape.
Seishan quickly went next to him and rested her hand on his shoulder, trying to give as much comfort as she could.
Grabbing a glass of water, she helped Kai drink as much as he could, his whole body was beyond full recovery.
'Kai… What happened to you?'
Sunny moved to sit on the bed as Kai finally drank all the water and was able to compose himself again, trying to give his friends a confident smile.
Seishan and Sunny looked at each other with unreadable expressions, before Seishan sighed and sat on the armchair next to the bed.
Kai looked at Sunless with a doobious glance.
"Are you really not going to answer me?"
Sunny shook his head and looked at his sister, who sighed and gave Kai a long look.
"He can't speak. The form he incarnated in doesn't have any vocal cords."
"... Ah."
The once handsome archer turned to his friend with an apologetic look.
"Sorry."
Sunny waved his hand, not minding the confusion.
They stood silent for a couple of seconds, letting a heavy silence settle.
But before they could ease it, the entrance door suddenly bursted open. A handsome man entering without caring about anything else other than his flair.
"Hello, my dear friend and niece! I have come to…"
Noctis just now noticed how the two people who he wanted to surprise were now staring at him with seemingly anger while the man on the bed just widened his remaining eye in surprise.
He chuckled with humor, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Oh, was I interrupting something? Do not worry! My presence will only bring benefits to the conversation! Shadowspawn, my friend, please take this!"
Noctis offered a neckless, a green gem to Sunny, it was at the size of his hand and glowed in ethereal beauty.
Sunless, not wanting to deal with his shenanigans, quickly grabbed the gem absent mindingly.
"I swear, what is the problem with this guy? He is so damn friendly and just refuses to stop talking! Don't you notice my friend's state?!"
Sunny's thoughts ran rampant, he didn't really hold back, after all, it was all on his mind.
"Just never-ending self indulgence, he wants to kill Transcendents that have thousands of soldiers with just himself and a couple of Awakened? What a fool!"
Sunless didn't stop… Despite the surprised looks he got from his friend and sister.
"And to top it all off, he makes a deal to save my sister, and in exchange, we have to help him, what a bastard! And why do you insist on calling her niece anyway?! I swear, if he starts calling me nephew…"
He finally noticed that everyone were staring at him with horrified expressions, especially Noctis, who had his eyes widened beyond human comprehension.
"Why is everyone staring at me?"
Noctis smiled half-heatedly.
"You see my friend, this gem allows your thoughts to be expressed outwards, like you are talking. You are literally thinking out loud."
Sunny snapped his head at the Transcendent and immediately let go of the gem, letting it fall on the bed.
He slowly turned to Seishan and Kai, who still held horrified expressions, he couldn't blame them, Sunny had possibly just angered a Transcendent that could kill them at any moment.
Sunny was about to accept his fate…
Before a laugh came out behind him.
He shivered before turning around to see Noctis laughing, seemingly having the time of his life before composing himself and looking at Sunless with a pleasant smile.
"I can't believe it! You are little Shan's brother? So you are my nephew! I knew there was something strange with your presence, you have my great-grandmother's blood!"
He was about to say more before he paused and looked at the ceiling in confusion.
"Wait, but you have no physical blood, and you are a Shadowspawn with the blessing of Shadow God… How did that happen?! Was I sensing your shadow body? Or the Ichor in your veins?"
Noctis looked at Sunny with a curious face.
"You really are an anomaly, not to mention being the brother of little Shan… Your family must be pretty complicated!"
Sunny turned to Seishan. If he had a face, it would show a terrified expression. His sister, on the other hand, had a tired face, she was reaching for the bridge of her nose, as if she passed through the exact same thing.
"Right! Before I forget, what is your name?!"
Sunny hesitated, but eventually reached for the green gem and touched it.
"Sunless… You can call me Sunny…"
"Sunless! Such a fitting name… But I have to come up with a present for you, you are my nephew after all!"
Sunny shivered once more and let go of the gem.
"No matter, for that is not important at the moment, but may I ask who this man that you care so much for?"
Seishan turned to Noctis humorlessly and answered evenly while touching Kai's hand.
"He is one of my companions that I told you about, I need you to heal him."
Noctis' smile widened a little at the revelation.
"Exelent, one less to find! As for healing him…"
He looked at Kai's body with a scrutinizing gaze and nodded.
"I can't heal him completely, but he will be able to fight, it will take a while though. Ah! Where are my manners, a pleasure to meet you, young man, rejoice! You are in the brilliant presence of Noctis, the great Sorcerer of the East!"
Noctis did a little bow that made Kai shiver a little, but eventually he lowered his head.
"Of course… I am Kai."
"Very well! I'll keep you all to yourselfs, I have much to do for this little rebellion to face an uphill battle! Later, my dear relatives… Kai."
Noctis proceeded to leave the room and close the door, leaving the three Awakened alone.
After a few seconds of torturous silence…
Kai decided to speak up.
"So… How were the last two months?"
"Exhausting."
"Painful."
Kai sighed.
"Yep, mine too."
— —
They recounted their miserable time in the Nightmare.
How Sunny passed two months just trying to keep himself together after appearing in the body of a Shadowspawn, and how Seishan was hunted down for being in the body of a mercenary that fooled one of the Chain Lords, she was either exhausted after a month of being hunted, or exhausted for having to deal with Noctis.
Kai meanwhile…
He had been incarnated in the body that used to be a captain in the Sun Legion, who led a hundred brave warriors for Lord Sevirax and the Ivory City.
He spent the two months in the Nightmare mostly leading his soldiers into battle for the glory of their Lord. Bringing various victories and glory to his Lord, despite never really meeting the Ivory Lord himself.
Until he brought so much glory he and his squad were granted the highest honor for Ivory City, an audience with Servirax, the
Ivory Lord… Only it wasn't really an audience, but a sacrifice.
They were tied and forced to be sacrificed for Sevirax, who ironically didn't even need any sacrifices, only doing so because of the obsession of his people with him.
As a result, Kai lost all his subordinates, being burned in the process of trying to save them, ending up in the Temple of the Moon after escaping.
"So… That's what happened."
Sunny and Seishan stayed quiet, not knowing what to say to comfort their friend. Seishan could only hold his hand tightly.
Kai appreciated her action then looked at Sunny.
"Did Noctis tell you what he wanted to do?"
Sunny grabbed the gem beside him to be able to talk.
"Killing the Chain Lords? Yeah."
"Well, I have no issue with that."
The Song siblings looked at each other for a second before nodding.
"Alright, we need to find the others though, do you know where anyone is?"
Kai stared at him for a couple of seconds and said it plainly.
"No idea."
"Me either… I guess the best we can do is gather the knives for now."
Seishan put down her own information.
"Noctis said he knows the locations of all of them, he has the Ruby knife for the Sun Prince, the brother of Servirax, and the Obsidian knife is in the altar, that one is for himself. For the Wooden knife, that is with the Chained Lord which fate is tied to, Solvein, the War Maiden herself, she apparently wants someone to kill her… If they are strong enough of course."
She frowned a little before continuing.
"The last one… Noctis isn't sure. The Glass knife for the Ivory Lord was given to a War follower and brought to either the Temple of the Chalice, a place where the War Maidens are trained… Or a prison made for those the war mongers couldn't contain and bring to the coliseum to fight."
Sunny's form rippled as he understood what she was implying.
"You mean the 'Box'?"
She nodded before explaining.
"Here, it is called the Fortress of Steel. A prison made for the warriors who opposed the followers of War, but who were strong enough to survive the coliseum for years, those who held many of their principles and refused to fight… Or for the most powerful Shadowspawns, the pride and symbol for Shadow God."
"To humiliate and degrade them."
Seishan hesitated, but nodded.
"Of course, there are other prisoners there, and their hate is unconditional, anyone who has even a little connection to Shadow God receives their vile fury. It doesn't help that the warden of that prison is considered a truly horrible person, they only keep him there because he is effective in taking information out of the prisoners and making them fight in the coliseum. He is a fanatic, and really hates the idea of 'Peace'."
Kai sighed, a worry expressed in his eyes.
"I hope no one got incarnated in one of the bodies of the prisoners."
"Me too… Look, Noctis said that it will take a while before he can heal you, since Shan is here, I can scout out the two places in search of the knife, see which place we don't need to waste time on."
"I guess that works."
Seishan nodded, and stood up, walking towards the door.
"I'll call for Noctis, wait for a moment."
She left the room with the grace of a Princess, letting the burnt human and Shadowspawn alone.
Kai turned to Sunny, looking really uncomfortable as he began asking a very important question that had been haunting him for some time.
"Hey… Sunny?"
The black figure turned his plain ebony face slowly, no emotion or inherent demeanor. It made Kai shiver upon the sight.
"You look scary like that… Well, is there any chance your sisters have boyfriends?"
Sunny twitched his head sideways, as if asking 'why does that matter?'. But he inevitably grabbed the gem and answered.
"Yes, Revel and Moon do. Eunbin did have multiple relationships, but they all ended up failing, all others are single, why the question?"
"Well… Are they alive?"
"Of course they are, what kind of question is that?"
"So is it safe to date one of your sisters?"
"Why would you…"
Sunny paused for some seconds.
"Oh. You mean…"
"Yes."
"Did you… You know…"
"Gods no! She's just suggesting! And only after the Nightmare!"
"Good, you bought yourself a little more time."
"... I beg your pardon?"
"Isn't it obvious? You'll have to face the full force of my family."
Kai swallowed in fear.
"C-Can you tell me what I have to face? As your great friend of course!!"
Sunless nodded non-chalantly.
"But of course! Why wouldn't I? Let's see, you'll have to face the same thing Azriel and Shin went through. Not counting Shan, you have eight threats, eight scrutinizing valuations, lucky for you, many already know and have a good opinion on you."
"G-Great…"
"Beginning with Revel, she likely won't care much, but if you even think of hurting Shan, she'll kill you."
Kai nodded.
"Eunbin will want you to have class and be gentle, no problem for you either. She has a bad experience with uneducated people who think too much of themselves. Oh, and if you offend Shan, she'll kill you."
Kai nodded with hesitation.
"Caera… Well she…"
"Will kill me if I hurt Shan?"
"Oh no, if she could, she would kill you regardless."
Kai's eyes widened in horror, but Sunless promptly ignored his friend's reaction.
"Hel… Actually she won't care, she'll just laugh at your face and say your life is forfeit for just existing."
Kai raised his eyebrows at that, but kept his curiosity for himself.
"Terra will challenge you to a fight to see if you are strong enough to be with Shan."
"... Isn't she a Saint?"
"Yes, good luck. And if you hurt Shan, she'll break your legs."
Kai's eye was filled with dread.
"Moon will be the only one to really welcome you, she's always excited for the idea of anyone of us dating."
Kai let out a breath of relief.
"As for mother…"
Dread returned to Kai at full force.
"She'll accept it, as long as you promise to protect and cherish Shan with all your heart… And drink a little of her blood."
"A-Alright… It isn't that bad…"
"As for me…"
A dead pan expression found its way to Kai's face as he started to stare at Sunny.
"What?"
"I want to make myself clear."
Sunless expressionless figure turned to Kai in an intimidating manner.
"You are my friend, but that won't stop me from making sure you treat her well, got it?"
"Y-Yes! Of course! I'll do my best! Please don't kill me!"
Sunless stared at the terrified face of the charming archer…
Until he placed his hand on Kai's shoulder.
"Don't worry, I trust you."
After staring at Sunny for a few seconds, Kai let out a breath of relief and began smiling again.
"Gods Sunny! You are scary!"
"I know, it's part of my charm."
"Did Nephis pass through this too?"
Sunny tilted his head sideways.
"What do you mean? She's not my girlfriend."
"Are you sure about that? You two look pretty close, I thought you two were already dating…"
The Prince of Song hesitated, he thought about the prospective… Technically, Nephis already passed through the 'tests' of his family, and seeing her as his girlfriend…
He felt a strange feeling well up inside of him, a warmth that made him feel comfort and longing. Along with a tight, uncomfortable feeling of something suffering.
He looked at his runes where the [Light Connection] rested, she still didn't answer after all this time.
'Neph… Where are you?'
— — —
In a dark cubic room, a figure laid on the ground against their will.
The room was empty, not a furniture to speak of, it was completely dark, no light in any corner or ceiling, leaving the figure completely alone with her thoughts and the bindings that held her.
Chains anchored her to the place, only allowing her to do only little movements, they wrapped on her arms, wrists, legs, feet, neck and even the little that was left of her torn wings. Every single one of the chains had runes that expelled the little light they could to activate the sorcery that debilitated the figure and stopped her from using her essence.
Her once beautiful body had been defiled by her captors, wounds caused by sharp blades and beatdowns were all throughout her. Barely healed scars showed her blind right eye and her burned fingers.
Her throat was dry, the torn rags that wrapped around her body dirty, and her ebony hair disheveled.
But the real torture for her was the constant mind-hex she was put under… Making her live through all her greatest fears over, and over, and over again.
Thus was the nature of her captor's Aspect. Create living simulations inside her head.
She had been tortured for so long she didn't know how much time had passed, she just knew that she had tried to escape multiple times, just to end up in the same position, all revealed to be just another simulation of her captor.
But what was really breaking her was seeing the people she loved dying again and again. Sometimes, he gave her pleasant dreams, only to drown her in corrupted nightmares.
Years must have passed… At least they were years for her.
A voice pierced her numb ears.
"Ahhh, did you have a good dream?"
His horrific voice was irritating, vile, like the man knew he was a horrible person, but didn't care.
"It is unfortunate, if only you didn't have that miserable God's stench on you, I wouldn't have to do this. But then again, I did give you the opportunity to get rid of it, but you are just tooooo stubborn."
The figure didn't answer, simply closing her eyes and preparing for the next horrific nightmare.
"I'll give you one more chance, tell me where that foolish Shadow is, and I will free you."
The broken figure paused upon hearing that, and looked up, doing her best to do the smallest of movements.
With her dry and weak voice, she answered.
"No."
She laid down once again, appreciating the little moment of peace she had as her captor absorbed her answer.
A chilling laugh resounded around the room.
"Very well then! Another round of sweet dreams!"
Breathing in, she closed her eyes and tried to imagine something good before the mind attack made her suffer again.
She thought about her parents.
Her mother was smiling, happily making some breakfast while her father was sitting on the table looking at nothing in particular, but his eyes were still serious and deep.
Then, she imagined herself holding the hands of someone, they were cold, yet warm at the same time…
She wanted to be with them.
'Sunny…'
But the warmth was taken away, the nightmares came back, and she suffered even more.