Three days later, the cafeteria was the usual sea of noise and whispers, all blended perfectly with the rich, sweet aroma of coffee.
As always, Sunny sat at his usual intimate table in the corner of the dining hall. However, the customary aura of peace and serenity that typically settled over his lodge-mates seemed to have taken on a rosier hue, tinged with the vague, warm mood of springtime.
Unfortunately for him, this shift wasn't due to the avalanche of unflattering slander and rumors currently piling up about him. Especially after the tale of three poor, innocent maidens captured in the lair of the Demon King of the Bedroom—forced to spend the night in his profane domain just to see the dawn again—had made the rounds across the entire Academy. No, this rosy atmosphere was entirely due to the unexpected change in attitude of a certain golden cat towards him.
"Cassie?" Sunny called out, shifting his gaze to the blind seer on his right.
"Mhm!" Cassie tilted her head slightly to meet his eyes. A transparent crystal monocle gleamed over her right eye, catching the light and giving her a noble, aristocratic air that detracted absolutely nothing from her natural beauty and the sweet smile coloring her face.
"Why are you hugging me?" he asked, genuinely curious.
Cassie wasn't just hugging him. The two were squeezed together on the same seat, with the blind seer pressing her delicate frame flush against his chest, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist. She buried her face in his black shirt, aggressively seeking cuddles and breathing in his scent as if he were an anchor keeping her tethered to the world.
Ever since that night three evenings ago, Cassie had adopted a much clingier, affectionate attitude toward Sunny. She followed him everywhere during the day until night fell and they each retreated to their respective bedrooms. But ever since he had gifted her that crystal monocle—the Memory to enhance her senses—the little seer seemed to have lost all her inhibitions.
Sunny didn't mind this type of affection at all; he was even willing to accept the girl's sudden saccharine behavior. It was cute. But the malice and mockery in the rumors spread by others were a nasty thorn in his basket of roses.
"I'm blind," Cassie told him in a sweet, giggly little voice, rubbing her cheek against his chest before looking up at him with those tender, blue kitten eyes. "I'm just a poor girl, lost in the dark and afraid. Isn't it normal for me to seek a little comfort?" she concluded, batting her eyelashes with a tenderness that made his shadow heart skip a beat.
That was the most adorable, treacherous lie Sunny had ever witnessed.
Sunny sighed and raised the white flag, utterly defeated by his seatmate's sudden need for attention. "Fine. Just let me eat," he said, gently stroking her hair with one hand while the other speared a piece of bacon from his plate.
Cassie buried her face back into his chest, giggling happily at her victory as she held tightly to her giant, shadowy teddy bear.
Sitting opposite the two of them in solitude, Nephis observed their chemistry with sheer academic curiosity, wondering if this was a valid method for optimizing the bond between cohort members.
Then, Changing Star tilted her head, noting a certain detail—a novelty she had observed over the past three days in the pale, ink-haired boy across from her. "Sunny, you're... different. You seem much more relaxed these past few mornings. Is it perhaps due to some kind of activity?" she asked, wishing to delve deeper into the matter.
Sunny froze. His mouth hung half-open, another piece of bacon impaled on his fork hovering just inches from his jaw.
"Ahemmmmmmm..." His pitch-black eyes darted around the corners of the cafeteria while his cynical, analytical mind scrambled for a plausible excuse within the brief window of time his Flaw allowed him before answering. He certainly couldn't shout from the rooftops about his new relationship with his Shadow, Myriad Shade.
On the table, the Jiminy Cricket—sporting a top hat far too large for its head and a walking stick hooked over its elbow—held up ten fingers, lowering them one by one as the seconds ticked inexorably by. It was a veritable Doomsday Clock for the two spare cents of social dignity Sunny had left.
"Mmmm... cardio," he finally managed to articulate. "I've been doing some cardio-muscular activity before going to sleep lately. You know how it is. To keep in shape," he said, forcing a painfully tight smile, the sheer agitation palpable on his lips.
At his words, Cassie didn't move an inch, but within the crystal monocle over her right eye, the faint reflection of a tall, slender young man could be seen elegantly covering his mouth to chuckle heartily.
Nephis looked at him and pondered this for a moment, raising her eyes to the ceiling to evaluate its effectiveness. Having completed her analysis, she nodded in approval. "That is not a bad idea. Do you mind if I join you for your next cardio-muscular session?" she asked with her usual flat expression that meant everything and nothing at all.
Sunny, who had just managed to refocus on his meal, shot his eyes back up, giving her a look begging for mercy.
In that moment, he felt a desperate need for the seven bodies his future Transcendent ability would eventually provide him, all while his [Child of War] attribute subconsciously accepted the new challenge on his behalf.
"Stop," he said, raising a hand in an act of pure self-preservation. "I'm sorry, but for that, you'll have to wait until Chapter 1967."
Nephis blinked, completely oblivious to the implications behind his words. 'Chapter? What does that mean?' Between Sunny's incomprehensible response and the spirit of her deceased grandmother constantly whispering in her ear to reproduce, Changing Star was getting more confused by the day.
Just then, the heavy clack of a massive metal tray landing to her right drew her attention, as well as Sunny's and Cassie's. The atmosphere at the table instantly shifted, becoming solid and deadly serious.
Yuki had finally joined the table. Her ice-cold eyes locked onto Sunless's night-black ones, her fingers steepled on the table in front of the overflowing tray before her. Both Nephis and Cassie had also looked up, reacting to the inexplicable, heavy charge of tension that had suddenly descended upon the group.
The mountain of food was still there. No one dared breathe. No one dared move a muscle. It was a perfect standoff.
'This is it,' Sunny commented mentally. 'I've spent the last few sleepless nights...'
The Jiminy Cricket standing on his shoulder interrupted him mid-sentence. <
Sunny loudly projected his internal voice over the imaginary creature to stop it from finishing, continuing his tactical inner monologue. '...trying to figure out how to solve this riddle and unveil the mystery. I've trained my senses so they can perceive the flutter of a butterfly's wings a mile away. I've trained myself to see the world simultaneously through my own eyes and my shadow's when I send him scouting. I bought off Autistic Blowtorch with a chocolate muffin just to get a third perspective. I used my contacts to bribe the security guy in the camera room to focus all the cafeteria cameras on Yuki's seat at this exact moment. I spent the whole week, every single morning, praying to the six dead gods and the great tapestry of fate to grant me success in my endeavor.'
<
'Now, the moment of truth has finally arrived,' Sunny concluded his elaborate scheme.
Silence fell, as cold and lethal as a rattlesnake.
His shadow, Gloomy, was in position, forming a perfect triangle with Sunny's and Nephis's eyes, centered dead on Yuki's plate. The ice maiden betrayed absolutely no emotion. All the cameras were aimed. Myriad Shade was hiding inside the target's own shadow, ready to instantly signal even the slightest movement to her master. Yuki stared at Sunny with an impassive, yet defiant gaze. Sunny stared intently at Yuki. Nephis stared at Yuki, genuinely wondering—with the two meager neurons she possessed—what on earth was going on. Cassie was blind.
A tumbleweed carried by an invisible wind rolled past their table as the camera zoomed in on their squinting eyes, an old Western movie soundtrack enlivening the mute atmosphere.
The slightest flinch would mean pulling the trigger.
Then—
"ATTENTION! SLEEPER SUNLESS IS REQUESTED TO REPORT TO THE ACADEMY'S RECEPTION HALL AT THE FRONT DESK. I REPEAT: SLEEPER SUNLESS IS REQUESTED TO REPORT TO THE ACADEMY'S RECEPTION HALL AT THE FRONT DESK."
The voice on the PA system repeated the message a couple of times before falling silent.
"Eh?" Sunny said, looking up at the megaphone above the cafeteria's central pillar in utter bewilderment.
'What is going on? Is this about that Caster business from the other day? Didn't that get swept under the rug?' he wondered, profoundly perplexed. Who could possibly want to summon him so urgently, and why now? And who had the authority to requisition the PA system, which the academy only ever used for emergencies?
It couldn't be Jet; she had explicitly stated she wouldn't resurface until the Winter Solstice. It couldn't be Kurt; he was just a regular Master with no apparent government affiliation. So who?
<
'Oh, shit!' Sunny immediately snapped his gaze back to Yuki, sitting directly across from him.
Because of the distraction, he had temporarily lost focus on his shadow's second sight. Myriad Shade hadn't been able to signal anything because the girl had been faster than her own shadow. Nephis had blinked two-tenths of a second too long. Cassie was blind, and the ghost in her monocle had seen everything but chosen to remain silent. The bribed security guy had double-crossed him at the last second and panned the cameras elsewhere.
The tray was empty. Once again, the food had completely vanished without a trace. Every last miserable crumb.
"..." Sunny stared at the scene in absolute disbelief, his jaw practically hitting the floor, wondering how that was even physically possible. He raised his eyes to look at the ice maiden.
Yuki was resting her chin on the back of her right hand, her elbow propped on the table, her legs crossed and hidden beneath the surface. Her face was a mask of pure ice, save for a slight upward curve of her red lips, which stood out sharply against her smooth, pale complexion and light blue attire. It was the smile of a queen mocking the foolish peasant who had dared to challenge her.
Her splendid azure eyes were loaded with boundless derision and a dash of sweet pity. They told Sunny one thing and one thing only: "Try again, Darling."
***
Sunny made his way toward the reception hall as requested. Leaving behind the girls in the cafeteria—and a thoroughly disheartened Cassie, who had fallen completely silent, sporting a sad little pout now that she was deprived of her special shadowy teddy bear—he headed for the front office.
Before he left, they had tried to follow him. It was an unspoken agreement they had forged to prevent a repeat of the Caster incident from three days ago, but Sunny had gently waved them off, signaling that there was nothing to worry about.
Maybe.
His pace was slow and calculating, wringing out every passing second to run through as many hypothetical ambush scenarios as possible. Serpent coiled silently around his right arm, ready to strike at a moment's notice, while Myriad Shade lay dormant within his shadow. Assuming the person waiting for him was an enemy, he should be able to handle it—unless, of course, it was a Saint. But at this point in the timeline, there were only a handful of Transcendents in the world. Statistically speaking, the chances of encountering one here and now were astronomical.
'Right, Fate? They're astronomically low, right?! Please, at least let me reach the Forgotten Shore before you start completely ruining my life!' He begged mentally.
Sunny now stood before the heavy wooden door, holding his breath to minimize his presence. He opted not to send Gloomy slipping under the crack to scout ahead; if the potential enemy possessed an Aspect capable of damaging shadows, he'd be dead. Instead, he extended his innate shadow sense to probe the room.
The shadow of the person on the other side felt entirely static, exuding an imposing, unyielding presence—like that of a stern judge presiding over a courtroom. His [Child of War] attribute immediately warned him that the man was a formidable warrior, but the very fact that Sunny could read his presence meant he wasn't a Saint. That particular, terrifying doubt was finally laid to rest.
'Fate: one time out of a hundred it throws you a bone, and the other ninety-nine it completely screws you in the—'
<
Raising his left hand to keep his weapon-arm free, he slowly reached out to grasp the handle, intending to ease the door open without making a sound. But before his fingers could even brush the metal...
"You may come in," the calm, steady voice of a young man called out from the other side.
'What the—' Sunny froze, staring blankly at the wood. Apparently, he wasn't quite as stealthy as he thought, or the Awakened inside possessed a sharp perception ability.
Since his cover was blown, Sunny abandoned all pretense of caution. He grabbed the handle and threw the door open in a single, fluid motion, stepping into the room.
The reception office was a simple, square room. It featured a central desk surrounded by a few chairs, two comfortable armchairs pushed to the sides, a couple of snack and beverage vending machines alongside a water cooler on the left wall, a decorative plastic plant near the entrance, and a large window situated directly opposite the door.
Standing across from him was a young man with short silver hair and sharp, piercing silver eyes. A distinct yellow earring dangled from his right ear. His presence was as cold, heavy, and unforgiving as a headman's axe. He was dressed in an elegant, perfectly tailored suit of a light, metallic gray hue.
'WILLIAM?!'
Pure, unadulterated shock washed over Sunny's pale face.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sleeper Everlasting Gloom," William said with a polite smile that sent a faint, cold shiver down Sunny's spine, despite the genuine courtesy behind it.
The fact that the prince of the Immortal Flame Clan had just addressed him using his True Name didn't escape him. It was widely visible on the Academy's public rankings, after all. The Immortal Flame boasted a record of two whole generations who had succeeded in the monumental feat of claiming a True Name in their First Nightmare. Did they want to add him to their roster of prized trophies, too?
The true reason Sunny had disclosed his True Name was so that, once he returned from his first expedition into the Dream Realm, he could use his qualifications to join the Song Clan. That way, he could find a way to meet Rain again and stay close to her. Although he had been an only child in his past life, in this one, he was an older brother, and his little sister was the only blood tie he had left in this world.
"'Sup!" Sunny returned the greeting, awkwardly pressing his lower lip while raising and dropping his hand in a swift, mechanical gesture—the universal sign of someone trying to dismiss a conversation while employing as few vowels as humanly possible.
Ignoring his eccentricities, William maintained his smile. He clasped his hands behind his back and attempted to keep the conversation going anyway.
"The number of young aspirants throughout history—since the Nightmare Spell descended upon our world—who have received a True Name in their first trial can be counted on one hand, yourself included. It is... impressive. Indulge my curiosity, Sleeper Sunless. Are you, by chance, the secret son of one of the first-generation heroes?" The yellow earring on his right ear glinted for a moment, catching the morning sunlight streaming through the window behind him.
Sunny, though somewhat flattered but absolutely refusing to show any vulnerability, looked at him while letting his arms dangle lazily. He then crossed them over his chest, letting out an exaggerated huff to feign stress, rubbed the back of his neck, looked down, and said:
"Well... technically, the gods and demons conceived my existence at the dawn of time, and I am essentially the load-bearing pillar holding up the entire concept of fate, but..." He clicked his tongue, as if pondering a foolish assumption. "The son of a past hero? Naaah! At most, I just killed the strongest man who ever lived in the past."
Sunny wasn't actually sure if Auro of the Nine was truly the strongest human ever born in the War Realm before the Doom War, but based on his knowledge from the novel he'd read in his past life and the legendary fame of the Nine, it was highly probable.
Hearing this, William froze in place, staring at him. He blinked once, as if scanning Sunny from head to toe with those piercing silver eyes. The smile frozen on his face was the distinct expression of a man who firmly believed he was being trolled.
"I see," he said, his hands still hidden behind his back.
Two solid seconds of absolute silence descended upon the room—just enough time for the prince of the Immortal Flame to completely give up on establishing a formal dialogue with the shadow.
"Listen," William finally resumed speaking, pausing halfway to release a deep sigh. "I know very well how much stress one can experience in the few days leading up to the Winter Solstice, how much pressure and fear builds up. After all, I went through it myself."
His voice was calm and patient, like an older brother imparting wisdom to his little siblings.
"So, to do us both a favor and not waste your time any longer, I'll get straight to the point. Are you, by any chance, on good terms with my younger sister, Nephis—the Sleeper who, like you, bears a True Name, Changing Star?"
Sunny froze for a moment. 'Great, watch him try to recruit me now.'
"Uh, yeah! I think we can consider ourselves friends," he nodded.
Then, immediately after, a doubt surfaced in his mind. "But wait, how did you know that?"
William shrugged, offering a half-smile. "The last time we met, my sister mentioned she was looking for allies. And you are the only aspirant other than her who possesses a True Name. I simply put two and two together."
'Ah!'
"Getting down to the crux of the matter," the prince of the Immortal Flame continued, clapping his hands together in front of him, "can I ask you to pass some Memories to my sister on my behalf?"
'Oh!'
Sunny tilted his head slightly. William didn't seem like such a terrible brother; he wondered why there was such bitter discord between him and Nephis. 'If I remember correctly, she mentioned something about his Flaw—something that prevented him from being dependent. I wonder what it is specifically.'
"Yeah, sure. No problem." Sunny nodded again. William's shadow harbored no ulterior motives, and his sharpened instincts weren't sounding any alarms.
"Good." William looked pleased.
He extended his right hand, and Sunny did the same, taking the man's palm in his own. The prince's hand was cold and possessed a firm grip.
Immediately, the Spell confirmed the receipt of the Memories.
[You have received a Memory.]
[You have received a Memory.]
[You have received a Memory.]
[You have received a Memory.]
[You have received a Memory.]
[You have received a Memory.]
[You have received a Memory.]
Seven Memories in total. As usual, the Rule of Seven remained absolute in this universe—even more so than the grand tapestry of fate itself.
"Perfect." Memories successfully delivered, William withdrew his right hand, using his left to elegantly adjust his cuff.
"Perfect," Sunny echoed, withdrawing his own hand but just letting it hang limply by his side.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
William checked his watch as if an incredibly fascinating note were written across its face. Sunny exhaled a short, quiet breath, slapping a hand awkwardly against his thigh; the empty space under the vending machine to the side suddenly seemed immensely interesting.
There was no danger. William had done exactly what he came to do. Sunny had absolutely nothing more to add, and in all honesty, he didn't feel anywhere near comfortable enough with the prince standing before him to strike up a pleasant, friendly chat.
Silence descended upon the room—a mighty Sovereign flooding the space with its vast and oppressive presence.
Without uttering a single word, Sunny spun on his heels and moved to leave. If there was anything in the world worse than the unbearable silence currently occupying the room, it was the looming, ominous shadow of forced, awkward small talk.
"So... do you like sports?" William asked out of nowhere, stopping Sunny dead in his tracks just before his fingers could graze the doorknob.
'F***!' Frozen at the door, Sunny tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling as he cursed silently to himself.