Grasping the Extraordinary Rock, Sunny made sure that there was no one really standing behind him, and addressed the reflection in a gruff voice:
"...Oh. It's you. What are doing inside the lake? Don't tell me you don't have a body?"
The reflection of the young man lingered, its smile turning a little forced. Then, it spoke again:
"How strange… I can hear you speak, but I don't see your lips moving. Have you been learning new tricks, Sunless? Ah, good for you. I've been doing some of that myself…"
Sunny scowled.
"I have… I've heard. A whole region of the kingdom, Mordret? Really? I'm sure you'd be able to survive the Nightmare without doing something like that."
Mordret tilted his head a little. Then, he said with the same pleasant smile:
"People all have their motives, you know? Those like you and I simply have… less restraints when it comes to our goals…"
Sunny blinked.
"What are you talking about?"
Mordret seemed genuinely confused for a moment, before shaking his head.
"Don't get me wrong. I would not have done the same in the Waking World, with how low the current population is. Those I killed were all already dead, Sunless. All of them were doomed, and uselessly so. I simply gave their deaths a different meaning."
'Low population? Are trillions small to him?'
Mordret did not seem pleased with himself, but neither did he seem remorseful about slaughtering thousands of people. Just… uncaring.
Which was much more unnerving.
The Prince of Nothing looked at Sunny and chuckled:
So, that little nonhuman of yours told you all about my adventures, then? Well, wonderful. I will not have to describe them myself. Time is of the essence, after all… sending a reflection across such a distance is not easy, even for me."
Sunny lingered for a few moments, then sighed and crossed his four arms.
"Yeah… what do you want?"
The reflection remained silent for a bit, then smiled.
"Why, what else? To conquer the Nightmare, of course. Don't you?"
A low growl escaped from Sunny's mouth.
"I do. Stop playing games and just tell me what it is that you want from me."
Mordret sighed.
"Well, if you insist. What I want is rather simple… which is not to say easy. I want you to keep Noctis alive, at all costs."
Sunny's gaze lingered on the reflection for a bit.
"…Are you retarded? What makes you think I'd sacrifice my life to keep Noctis alive? You know, I think I overestimated you. You probably only killed all those people because of whatever mental disorder you have, huh? You really lucked out with your Aspect."
Sunny mockingly snickered.
Mordret sighed once more.
"I don't mean that in the literal sense, of course. As long as Noctis is kept alive, I can guarantee that we will survive the Nightmare."
Sunny stopped laughing, giving Mordret an indescribable gaze.
"Hm… let me think… no. I'll do what I want. If I decide it's better for Noctis to die for whatever reason, then that's it. You and I aren't friends, and we definitely aren't allies."
Sunny stretched his arms.
"Actually, the reason you were so eager to help little old me in the Sky Below was to get me to release you from the Night Temple, wasn't it? Maybe you wanted to nab my body, as well. It would have worked if it didn't get destroyed… and the people who destroyed it did so to get you out, right? The person in white, maybe? Or maybe it was the guy with the puppets… probably both. People stronger than a Saint aren't common enough for multiple to find interest in the Chained Isles in such a small time frame. Or maybe they are. What do I know about higher powers?"
Sunny narrowed his eyes.
"Practicality, huh? That's probably the only reason you killed those people. I doubt you hated them, and you definitely don't regret killing them. You called Dan Heng nonhuman, didn't you? Well, maybe you don't know, but humans aren't the type of creatures to end lives without a hint of emotion. And frankly, I don't feel safe interacting with someone that could think like that…"
In less than a second, the Cruel Sight had pierced the surface of the lake, distorting Mordret's reflection as the water rippled, his smile now becoming forced.
Sunny tilted his head.
"So it'd be best to kill you as soon as possible. Too bad, though. I'm guessing you're not actually here."
The Cruel Sight could hit intangible beings, but that did not apply to an illusion created to appear like the Prince of Nothing.
Mordret's smile fell, shaking his head with a disappointed expression.
"It seems that I was wrong. I thought the two of us were the same, but I couldn't be further from the truth. I won't kill you in the Nightmare, as I cannot take your body with me when it ends. Once we Ascend, however, will be a different story…"
A harmless smile appeared on his face.
"Ah, but you don't mind if I use those friends of yours instead, right? Those three seem very interesting… not as much as you, however."
Sunny sighed, getting tired of this conversation.
"Go ahead. I don't particularly care. It'd be kind of annoying, though. If I were you, I'd be getting the hell away from me."
A gust of wind suddenly disturbed the surface of the lake, and the reflection of the banished prince became distorted, swaying with the water.
He spoke again, his voice sounding a little distant.
"Ah, how inconvenient. It seems that I have run out of Essence… until we meet again, Sunless... though, you really do think highly of yourself, hm?"
With that, he was gone. The reflection disappeared from the surface of the lake, and Sunny was left alone once more.
'…That guy is probably still sticking around.'
With that, Sunny shrugged and turned to continue training. If he saw the bastard, he'll just kill him.
The answer to all his problems.