Ki Song didn't move a muscle, but the room around her changed. The luminous memories around the throne room suddenly dimmed; the song sisters grew deadly still, and the chilling temperature of the place suddenly grew colder. A massive pressure was exerted on Sunny as Ki Song stared at him with an unreadable expression.
He didn't bother questioning when Ki Song had figured out his identity, as she had likely known for a long time now; besides, that war was on his list of priorities. The priority had immediately become to make more masks for his avatars as soon as possible to avoid this situation again. In fact, that gloomy guy at the Emporium was doing so right now.
Sunny vowed never to wear Weaver's mask in Ki Song's presence again. It brought him more trouble than anything.
The Queen's attention was directed elsewhere when a soft-spoken husky voice tentatively spoke up, sensing the ever-growing tension of the room.
"Ah, Mother, I am… I am sure he only meant it as an attempt at humor. We know that Sunless moved from Bastion, so he likely spent time with Saint Jest. You know how that man likes to make awful jokes all the time, especially when my sisters and I were children." He heard Eunbin's heels click against the marble floor closer to him from behind.
Sunny had never even been in the same room as Saint Jest, but he was grateful to Eunbin all the same.
Ki Song stared at him again with a chilling expression. "Is my daughter correct in saying that this was your attempt at humor?"
Sunny had never been so glad to have Weaver's mask still on as he was forced to nod at her question. "Yes, she is right, your majesty."
"I ask you a simple question, and you dare to try to make a fool of me in front of my daughters. If what Eunbin says is true, then you must know, for future reference, that I do not enjoy the jokes you are attempting to make, Saint Sunless. So I think that it would be wise for you to take back your words while I am still being kind, boy." Any trace of warmth that was in her tone a few moments ago was gone entirely, replaced by an emotionless tone.
'G-godamnit!' A bead of cold sweat trailed down his face from her will being exerted onto him.
Sunny quickly dismissed Weaver's mask and looked up at Ki Song with a weak smile. "My sincerest apologies, Queen Song. I meant no offence to you at all. It seems I still haven't figured out my audience's sense of humor. As for your question, I will answer sincerely, I don't mind being called both, but I prefer Sunless."
The pressure immediately disappeared, and Sunny let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding, but the temperature of the room was still cold enough to make someone like Sunny shiver. He could hear the faint breathing of the song sisters behind him, the sound of Ki Song's fingernail tapping at the throne as she stared at him silently, likely contemplating the sincerity of his apology. Sunny could feel the rhythm of his heart rapidly thumping in his chest, his mind racing on the chances of how fast he could shadowstep out of the palace before she could move from her throne.
It was doubtful that he would make it out of here alive should she decide to attack. No, she wouldn't attack over something so trivial, would she? Or was Ki Song as really mad as Sunny had said she was while he was wearing the Demon of Fate's mask? As he was thinking of ways to escape, the freezing temperature lessened when Ki Song leaned back into her throne with a soft sigh.
"Good, it would be in your best interest not to do such a thing again, Saint Sunless. I do not appreciate terrible jokes, but I do not think you are alone in this predicament. Long ago, Saint Jest had to learn that just as you did." Speaking from her original body, she stared at him calmly while still tapping her finger on the armrest of her throne.
"May I ask why you summoned me here, your majesty?" He asked, hoping to change subjects.
"Yes, some scouts I have sent outside of Ravenheart have not returned in three weeks. I want you to investigate what is taking them so long, report back to me, and bring them back when you find them. I'm sure you have a body or two to spare. Take Moonveil, Silent Stalker, Lonesome Howl, Mordret, and Saint Nightingale when he returns from his meeting. You will depart tomorrow at dawn."
Sunny wasn't surprised to know that she had heard his conversation with Kai before coming here. "How many were sent?" He asked.
"Twelve in total, six masters and six saints. Some of the Masters are Blood sisters. Is there anything else you want to ask Saint Sunless?" Ki Song looked at Seishan, then at Sunny.
"Yes, can you not sense them within your domain?" Sunny asked with genuine curiosity as he had no idea how domains worked.
Ki Song slowly shook her head. "No, my domain only extends so far outside of Ravenheart. My Saints and masters must be somewhere on the outskirts of Godgrave. If they were dead and inside my domain, I would have already brought their bodies back. Do you have any other questions?"
"No, your majesty, that is all, thank you." He slowly stood up, summoning a new mask.
Sunny had sent his gloomy shadow as he was carrying rain to Raven Heart to work on something at the Brilliant Emporium. Luckily for Sunny, his avatar had just finished making one of the new masks.
Sunny had dubbed the new mask the name 'Definitely not me.' Instead of being dark and featureless, like his 'hiding in plain sight' mask, this new one was human-like and completely expressionless. Once Sunny had his mask on, he bowed and moved to leave the throne room.
As he was leaving the palace and began walking back to the emporium, he sensed a shadow that had been following him since he left the throne room, and a strong arm suddenly yanked him, turning him around in the process. Sunny grabbed their arm and Shadow stepped both of them to Brilliant Emporium, and unsurprisingly, was met with a beautiful face that had a long scar running from her forehead to the tip of her chin, hair that fell like a silk curtain, and a pair of dark eyes boring intensely into his unseen onyx eyes.
"Sunless, what was that back there?" Eunbin moved close enough that he would have felt her breath on his face had he not been wearing his mask.
"I panicked." Dismissing his mask, he shrugged,
"You panicked? Well, so did I. You are lucky that Mother considers you as a valuable asset to her, because if you were anyone else, she would have struck you down then and there! You are also lucky that I came to your aid." She poked his chest to get her point across.
"And I thank you for that." Sunny moved into the kitchen momentarily to grab two glasses and a pitcher of lemonade. Pouring two glasses, one for him and one for Eunbin.
"You can thank me by not making a joke like that again." Sunny heard a chair scraping against the wooden floors as she took a seat at a table. When he came back out with two glasses full of lemonade in each hand and the pitcher of lemonade in his third shadow hand, Eunbin was sitting in a chair that faced the kitchen, staring at him.
"I didn't know you cared that much, Eunbin." Sunny smiled, taking a seat across from her, handing her a glass of lemonade, and setting the pitcher in front of her.
"Then you're not as smart as I thought you were, Lord Shadow." The enchantress rolled her eyes and brought the glass to her lips, then hummed in satisfaction.
A minute of silence passed before Sunny spoke up again.
"Why are you here?" Sunny frowned deeply in her direction.
"Because I was worried about a friend, I thought I made that obvious, Sunless. I don't understand the sudden change in attitude, but if you want me to leave, then-" Eunbin stood up to leave.
"I'm not talking to you, Eunbin." He stared at his reflection on the glass pitcher before it smiled.
"Ah, a friend can't say hi?" Mordret smiled.
"No, because we're not friends and never will be. You don't have any friends in the first place, who would want to be friends with a lunatic?" Sunny smiled as well.
Mordret shrugged at the insult and looked around. "We will be in your care, Sunless. You spent the most time in Godgrave after all. I will see you tomorrow morning, my friend. Goodnight, Transcended Eunbin." Mordret politely smiled and left the reflection of the pitcher.
Eunbin stared at the pitcher before grabbing it and refilling her glass. "That man is not right in the head, but never mind that, I hope Silence will play nice. I still don't understand her hostility towards you. So I apologize for her behavior towards you over these past three months." She slightly pushed her bottom lip into a pout, then stretched her arms and leaned back to stretch her back, making Sunny's eyes wander momentarily over her beautiful red dress that hugged her figure perfectly, and darted back to his plate when Eunbin stopped stretching.
Sunny only did this because Eunbin was wearing a memory that she had commissioned when he first arrived here, and she wanted to see if she had made any changes to it; that was all. What kind of Enchanter would he be if he didn't check on his memories?
A terrible one!
Sunny coughed and met Eunbin's gaze. "There's no need for that, Eunbin. Silent Stalker's perception of me is not your fault, nor can it be changed." He smiled at her.
"Hmm, alright, be careful on your way to God Grave, I know you live there, but still." She stood up, prompting Sunny to stand up as well.
"When am I not careful?"
Eunbin gave him a long stare. "Do you really want me to answer that?"
"No,"
"That's what I thought, what would you do with me, Saint Sunless?" She shook her head.
"I wouldn't be able to talk to my friend and favorite Enchantress." He put on a charming smile.
"I'm the only Enchantress you know." Eunbin rolled her eyes.
"Exactly! That's not a coincidence, you know?" Sunny smiled wider.
"Are you trying to butter me up to get me to commission a memory?" She raised an eyebrow with an incredulous smile.
"Yes, is it working?" Sunny stopped smiling.
"You're so shameless," She softly laughed.
"I'm a business owner running a business." Sunny shrugged.
"Goodnight, Sunless," She smiled at him over her shoulder before opening the door and leaving.
It was time to get some rest, as he had a long day ahead of him tomorrow.
Hours had passed, and sunlight shone through Sunny's window, signaling that dawn had broken, but Sunny remained in bed because his original body had to tend to customers in an hour. So, he sent his avatar from Godgrave to Raven Heart and joined the temporary cohort.
***
Wearing his 'Definitely not me' mask, Sunny stalked through Ravenheart, making his way to the entrance. When he got there, Mordret, Kai, Moonveil, Lonesome Howl, and Silent Stalker were standing in place, talking amongst themselves, and stopped when he stood before them.
"Hey there, short, dark, and handsome. We've been waiting for you. Come on," Howl flashed a confident smile at Sunny and took off into a breakneck sprint with the rest of the Saints following suit.
They ran until they were just outside of the range of Ki Song and started cutting down nightmare creatures when they were entirely outside of the queen's domain. Once they were on the outskirts of Godgrave. They stopped walking and let Sunny take the lead, with Mordret walking at his left, along with Kai. Moonveil and Mordret's vessels were at his right while Lonesome Howl and Silent Stalker covered the rear.
"So, Saint Nightingale, how has Saint Athena been?" Mordret asked politely with a pleasant smile.
"She has been fine," Kai responded curtly.
"That is wonderful news, and how about— what was his name? Ah, Dumpling? How is he?" Mordret's Nightmare creature vessels that he had summoned cut away at the red moss.
"He is good," Kai responded curtly again.
"That's grand to hear, my friend." Mordret smiled, reaching into his pocket to pull out a mirror shard. He stared at it before reaching into it, and the faint sound of glass shattering graced Sunny's ears. Suddenly, a reflection of Lonesome Howl and his avatar Lord Shadow appeared before disappearing into presumably Mordret's soul sea.
"What was the point in that?" Kai raised an eyebrow.
"So they have proper nourishment and can become big and strong." The Prince of Nothing smiled at Kai while cutting down a nightmare creature that was lurking within the moss.
"Speaking of reflections, since you can make reflections of people, could you make them for weapons too? It's something I've always been curious about." Howl spoke up from the back.
"I can, but it is much more tiresome and a waste of soul cores for a weapon I will never use again, so I never bother with it." Mordret glanced over his shoulder to stare at her.
Lonesome Howl nodded seemingly satisfied with the answer.
After a few minutes of silence Sunny spoke up.
"Nightingale," Sunny turned to his friend.
"Sunless," Kai looked at him with a hint of nervousness.
"Have I ever told you about the time I fought a horse to the death?" Sunny smiled beneath his mask.
"I- you did?" His handsome face twisted into confusion.
"Oh yes, I also had my heart ripped out by a saint and an immortal sorcerer made me a new one.
"A- a new h-heart? That is… that is-" Kai stammered out he was as pale as a sheet of paper but Sunny interrupted him before he could finish.
"I also looked at the strings of fate as a sleeper, it wasn't fun at all. And you haven't seen my silent knight yet but she is a saint and I killed her as a sleeper." Sunny shook his head and kept himself from laughing.
Kai tripped over his feet but stopped himself by floating in the air. His friend began to hyperventilate at Sunny's truths and held his head in his hands.
Moonveil stared at them both strangely with wide eyes then shook her head. "You and your ridiculous stories , how is it that they are always true, Sunless? I guess it doesn't matter at least they are amusing."
Two days had passed as they walked further and further into the mossy forest, Sunny had his shadow sense extended to its limit to look for the saints and Masters. He stopped when he sensed twelve shadows in a rough circle.
"I found them," Sunny called out to his companions and began walking to the shadows of the people.
"It's about time! Let's see what they've been up to." Howl walked closer behind him.
As they approached the twelve, they saw the saints and masters had their weapons in hand staring at where Sunny and his companions had come from and relaxed when they saw them.
A beautiful Auburn-haired woman approached them with a grateful smile, she wore light green armor that had an accent of purple and gold. The Saint had warm green eyes and pristine white teeth.
"Thank the gods! Lord Shadow It is nice to finally meet you. I am Saint Rose, a few of our companions got injured so we had to stop and wait for them to heal but once they did we were faced with an onslaught of nightmare creatures a few days ago and they were injured again now we've slowly making our way back. We've tried carrying them but they say that it hurts them more." She explained to them.
"That's fine, we have ways of transportation." Mordret pointed to his vessels with a smile.
Silent stalker nodded. "We are here now, you've done well."
"Thank you Lady Silent Stalker." Saint Rose bowed along with the other saints and masters.
"You have a lot to explain to the queen. But first Saint Rose, come here for a moment." Sunny's voice resounded from his mask getting everyone to turn to him.
"Okay," She began walking closer but stopped when a dark blur flashed through the air.
Saint Rose and everyone else stared in confusion before her head fell clean off her shoulders and her body fell with a heavy thud.
The forest immediately exploded in a storm of chaos.