Under the brisk of the warm sunlight, Wren stirred awake from his deep slumber. Groaning as his upper body felt a sweet pain.
Raising himself slightly, only to be prevented by the white blankets that were tugged by something.
Blinking his sore eyes, he looked around but found nothing.
"I drank too much....." He muttered, while his head kept swinging. Putting his hands on the side of his temples, he stabilised himself.
"Ugh...where am I?" He asked, but no one was there to respond to him, except for the darkness hiding away from the small rays of sunlight.
When he saw through it, the room seemed a little familiar...no...it was his room, but it was his room in the dream realm.
Then, something shook under the blanket.
And when he lifted it, his heart beat wildly because of what he had seen, remaining silent...he left the blanket.
Then, Wren silently moved out of it and, with precise movements, put on the clothes that were on the ground.
And then...
He stomped out of the room.
The pristine milky skin of his was painted with a slight red hue, and his breathing was slightly ragged as he remembered everything...everything.
'I think I am quite far away from that room, aren't I?'
Indeed, he was, quite literally.
"Wren?" A familiar voice suddenly called out his name from behind; it was familiar, so much so that he couldn't even believe his own ears.
Wren slowly turned around.
His eyes encompassed the beauty of the sanctuary of Noctis, and within it was a young man with dazzling handsomeness.
It was his friend.
It was Sunny.
"Sunny...wait a minute. Were you this tall?" He abruptly asked with astonishment; indeed, his short friend had grown, not just by an inch, but by a whopping 10 cm.
Shaking his head, he smiled.
It was a sad smile.
"It's...been a while, huh." He muttered to him.
Sunny remained silent for a moment; perhaps he was reminiscing about the events that had happened 3 months prior.
Indeed, what had happened that time wasn't something worth remembering.
Then, Sunny enveloped him in a warm embrace for a moment before he let him go. Sunny then grinned and said:
"This place isn't as bad as you told me back then."
Wren chuckled.
"You are saying that after experiencing the crushing?" He asked jokingly.
Sunny shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, you can consider it as a form of massage. I mean, after hunting nightmare creatures who get a chance to loosen their stiffened shoulders, right?"
Wren nodded and chuckled.
Then, he put his hands over Sunny's shoulder.
"How's everything going, and how's everyone? We met after three months, and I didn't even know you were positioned here, in the chained isles."
Sunny's shoulders stiffened slightly.
"Uh...it would be better if you don't meet them, also..." He paused as his expression became serious, then he whispered, "I have a few things to talk about, but right now is not the time-"
Suddenly, he stopped his words, making Wren confused.
But then...
His face paled as someone put a hand on his shoulder.
With a hesitant smile, he looked back and found two vermillion eyes staring at him with intense fury.
Sunny looked at the scene with an amused expression.
'Never expected to see such a pale expression on his face. Hmm...women surely are trouble.'
However, from the looks of it, their relationship seemed more than friends, but then again, Sunny was Wren's friend and...
In such cases, he was even denser than Wren.
Morgan looked at Sunny and smiled.
"You must be Awakened Sunless from the Changing Star's cohort. Wrennie talks about you a lot."
Sunny looked at Wren, his gaze shouted everything.
'Wrennie?'
It was a stupid look.
Wren coughed and looked at Morgan.
"You have many things to do, don't you? I am pretty sure Saint Summer Knight wouldn't like waiting for you." He said with a small yet genuine smile.
Morgan's gaze lingered on him for a few moments, then she sighed.
"Indeed, if I don't go right now, those old coots will bleed my ears." As she said, Morgan leaned closer to Wren's ear and whispered:
"See you later, Wren-nie."
With that, she left him and Sunny together, marking her way to Saint Summer Knight.
Wren looked at her for a few moments before he turned his attention to Sunny again.
"So...what were the serious things you were talking about?"
Sunny remained silent for a moment, then he said:
"I met...a person named Mordret."
As those words left Sunny's mouth, Wren's eyes widened. Looking at those wide eyes, Sunny fell into a pit of confusion.
Not because Wren acted like he knew that...Prince of Nothing, but that emotion hidden behind those grey eyes.
That excitement.
It was something he hadn't seen in his eyes, ever at all.
"Your expression shows that you know this person, and in a very good way, perhaps." He exclaimed.
Wren chuckled.
"Indeed, this person you mentioned is someone I know very well. How about we talk about it in the Waking world, some people wouldn't like hearing his name."
Sunny looked around, although he didn't see anyone, but the absence of people doesn't truly mean you are alone.
"What are we waiting for then?" He said with a short grin.
Wren wrapped his arm around Sunny's shoulder, then the two of them began to walk...together, catching up to things they hadn't been able to discuss.
—MEANWHILE—
In the jagged peaks of the hollow mountains, the strange mist was covering them like a heavy silk drape.
Soon, the sounds of explosions and inhuman screams could be heard.
Then, a figure emerged from the mist, her body was slender and covering it was a mystical cloak that resembled the cosmos.
Her pearly white hair was dirtied, and the light in her violet eyes had dimmed because of the agony she had suffered here.
The Apostle of the Abyss King was here in one of the deadliest places in the dream realm.
Selina was making her way back home.
She was moving to the Chained Isles.