[Third Person POV]
"Uh... Is this really the right place?"
After following the map for a while, Sunny found himself in a remote part of the Dark City, an area abandoned by even the nightmare creatures seemingly infesting every part of the ruins.
Standing before him were the destroyed remains of a large building, the collapsed walls forming a ring around what looked to be a courtyard.
"Saint, you think this is the place?"
The loyal shadow stood as still as a statue, betraying no opinions.
Sunny let out a sigh.
"What about you, Inky? What do you think?"
The colossal titan Audun had entrusted him with scratched its head with one of its 16 ebony appendages, its confusion evident.
Seeing the responses of his monstrous companions, Sunny shot a look at his shadow, the shady bastard offering his master nothing but a nonchalant shrug.
Shaking his head lightly, Sunny let out another breath.
Pulling Saint back into his shadow and Inky back into his soul, Sunny climbed over the ruined walls and touched down in the courtyard within.
Giving his surroundings a careless glance, Sunny took the 'treasure' map back out, furrowing his brow as he scanned the fabric sheet.
'If I'm not stupid... then the big ass X should be somewhere here-'
Looking up again, Sunny's eyes locked on the only thing populating the largely empty courtyard.
In the very center lay a large stone well, a heavy iron grate covering the top like a lid.
Sunny couldn't quite gauge how deep the well went, but if the pitch black abyss inside the circular hole was anything to go by, it was clearly quite deep.
Double-checking the map once more, Sunny couldn't help but let out yet another sigh.
The obnoxious red cross was placed smack dab in the middle of a circular clearing, in the exact position of the well.
After triple- Nay, quadruple-checking the map, Sunny came to the rather obvious conclusion that whatever he was searching for was inside the circular abyss.
With a curious look, Sunny walked over to the well, pausing right in front of it.
He thought for a moment, studying the ornate iron grate whilst stroking his chin, eventually pulling a stone the size of a tennis ball from his soul.
This particular Memory, the [Kinetic Cornerstone], was a helpful adjustable light source he had received after killing some glowing serpentine creature of the Awakened Demon variety.
Its enchantment [Kinetic Absorption] made the stone glow with a brightness proportional to the force exerted upon it, and although Sunny had never experimented with the upper limit of this particular Memory's enchantment, he reasoned that if he tossed the stone down the well, the force of it impacting the ground and the ensuing flashbang would allow him to get a good idea of just how deep this well really was.
Without hesitation, Sunny raised the [Kinetic Cornerstone] to around his chest level and dropped the rock through a gap in the iron grate covering the well.
His memory disappeared down the dark maw of the well, swallowed by the seemingly depthless black.
"1... 2... 3... 4..."
Sunny counted the seconds quietly.
"29... 30...31-"
Just as half a minute passed, a brilliant flash of light burst forth from the well's stone mouth, drowning the surrounding courtyard in blinding shades of white.
Sunny unconsciously shielded his eyes from the radiant assault, his other senses on high alert.
Barely a fraction of a second after the [Kinetic Cornerstone] lit up the area, the sound of a sharp thud rang clear in Sunny's ears-
And oddly enough,
So too did a piercing yet oddly melodic scream.
"GAHHHHHHH~"
Sunny's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"MY EYES~"
Despite the twinge of pain coloring its tone, the voice echoing from the depths had a sort of sweet, enchanting quality to it.
Not to mention, the voice had clearly come from a human.
Sunny quickly realized that the 'treasure' he had been chasing this whole time had just been some dude stuck in a well, and with that realization came a wave of disappointment.
Though a beat later, he also realized that he had just thrown a bona fide flash grenade at a guy who had been sitting in nothing but darkness for god knows how long.
A chorus of pained wails continued to flow from the well, the voice producing a series of foul profanities ill-suited for its graceful gravitas.
With every diabolical curse echoing from the depths of the well, Sunny's face fell more and more with utter remorse.
Soon, though, the wails turned to nothing more than a collection of pitiful croaks, and thus, feeling pretty terrible for the guy he had just accidentally blinded, Sunny called out to the darkness.
"Uh... Hi-"
Unfortunately, it seemed that Sunny had spoken too quietly.
A heavy, aggrieved sigh echoed from the well, cutting his apology short.
"You guys really stepped up your game. I've got to admit, I really didn't think you all were creative enough to come up with this after all those lame attempts at torture."
The enchanting voice let out a grumble.
"Hah~ I don't care anymore. If you really want some of my memories, fine, I'll be willing to part with a few of them- just let me out of here first. I've had enough of this dreary little well, and quite frankly, I'm getting hungry."
Sunny could do little more than fumble over his words as he tried to structure his response.
"Hey, uhm- I'm very, very sorry about the whole blinding thing! I honestly had no clue there was an actual person down here..."
There was a small bout of silence before the voice echoed from the depths once more.
"Huh? I don't recognize that- Wait, who are you?!'
Sunny let out an awkward laugh.
"I'm Sunless, but my friends call me Sunny."
His introduction was met with another wave of silence.
Well, at least Sunny thought it was silence.
A series of indecipherable, frantic murmurs rang faintly in his ear.
"Hello? You still there?'
"Ah, yes! Sorry, I was just thinking about something."
A small cough echoed from the well.
"Ahem~ So, uh... Sunless-"
"Just Sunny is fine."
"Alright... Uhm, Sunny? What exactly are you doing here?"
Sunny could hear the undisguised wariness in the voice's tone.
"While I was out on a little walk, I encountered a group of hunters and they... 'dropped' what looked like a treasure map."
Letting out a dramatic sigh, Sunny continued.
"Like anyone handed a map with an obnoxious red X on it, I naturally got curious, so I followed it here. Though, instead of a pile of riches, I found a guy stuck in a well..."
There was another brief contemplative pause.
"Hah~ I see... By the way, I'm just a little confused about something. Why are you walking through the ruins at night? Isn't that... a little dangerous for a sleeper?"
The voice made another attempt at probing, something Sunny didn't quite mind.
In fact, he considered this level of caution quite admirable.
"It's not really dangerous for me. My aspect allows me to hide in shadows and see through the dark, so if anything, night is the safest time of day for me to travel the ruins."
Sunny chuckled.
"Any other questions?"
The sleeper in the well thought for a moment.
"Well, I've definitely got a few, but for right now I've just got one..."
There was a hesitant pause as the voice seemed to mentally prepare itself.
"Are you... Human?"
Sunny blinked.
"Uh, yeah? Was that not obvious?"
An audible sigh of relief echoed from the well.
"Never hurts to be safe."
There was still the tiniest hint of caution present in the prisoner's voice, but most of the initial suspicion seemed to have faded.
"So, Sunny, would you perhaps be willing to help out a fellow sleeper? I'll be willing to compensate you if you do!"
Never one to reject free stuff, Sunny let out an interested hum.
"Mm, I'm listening~"
The charming voice thought for a moment before responding:
"I've got quite a few soul shards to my name, though; all of it is back in the castle. If you help me out of here, I'll-"
"Not interested."
Sunny shut him down.
"W-what? Are you sure-"
"Well, it's not like I'm unwilling to give you a hand, it's just that I'm not really hurting in the Shard department. I'd rather you keep your shards and compensate me in some other way."
Sunny shrugged.
"When I get you out of there, we can talk about it. Personally, I'm pretty tired of having a conversation with an iron grate."
The voice lingered for a moment.
"Fine by me!"
Nodding, Sunny thought for a moment.
"So, uh... moving the grate isn't an issue for me, but getting you out of there is. I'm pretty poor memory-wise, but I've got an echo that might be able to help."
"An echo? There aren't that many people in the castle who have Echos. In fact, I think I know all of them by name."
The prisoner lingered for a moment.
"Do you maybe live in the outer settlement?"
Although there wasn't much of a point, Sunny shook his head.
"Nope. I live in the ruins with a friend."
"You live... In the ruins?"
Sunny shrugged.
"Me and a couple of friends left the bright castle after causing a commotion. After that, we lived in the outer settlement, but we ended up splitting apart not long after because of a spat. I've been living in a Cathedral in the ruins ever since."
"You're quite open about all this."
"It's not like I have much to hide."
The prisoner let out a good-natured laugh.
"Fair enough! Oh, and the echo won't be necessary. My Aspect Ability allows me to fly, after all!"
Sunny blinked.
"Well, that simplifies things."
A chuckle came from the well.
"Indeed, it does."
Letting out a hum, Sunny summoned Saint.
The graceful shadow stood at his side, the twin ruby flares visible through Saint's visor locked on her master's form.
Gesturing at the Iron grate, Sunny gave his noble servant a simple command.
"I'll be removing the grate now. Just sit tight for a bit."
Saint walked over to the well and knelt, grasping the ornate metal covering with her gauntlet-clad hands before prying it off without much effort.
Moving it to the side, Saint plopped the heavy iron grate onto the ruined courtyard with a thud.
"All clear~"
"Thanks. Uh, by the way, should I grab the glowing rock you dropped down here, or should I just leave it?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Don't worry about it, I'll just summon it back."
Sunny felt a light breeze brush his face as something began to ascend the dark depths of the well.
Taking a step back, Sunny waited patiently, watching the uncovered stone maw with interest.
Soon, a tall, lean figure languidly rose from the dark abyss, the young man landing gracefully on the weathered stone composing the well.
The sleeper before Sunny had quite the glamorous appearance, his beauty apparent even in the blanket of the night.
On top of his stunning green eyes and luscious dark auburn hair, he had perfectly symmetrical features, high cheekbones, and flawless ivory skin.
Wrapped in a well-fitted set of leather armor, the sleeper clearly had the kind of appearance that would draw eyes.
Not that Sunny would care.
After spending months staring at Audun's unfortunately gorgeous mug, he had grown rather immune to beautiful people.
And well, with his new appearance, there was a certain level of confidence that followed.
Still watching the newly freed prisoner of the well, Sunny grew amused as the unfamiliar sleeper's features contorted with panic upon seeing his faithful shadow.
"Oh no-"
"That's the echo I mentioned. I'm standing over here."
The sleeper whipped around, a hint of wariness clouding his features as he caught a glimpse of Sunny's silhouette in the dark.
Sunny let out a chuckle.
"My bad, I've gotten so used to seeing in the dark that I can't really tell how dark it actually is. If you have a Memory that can produce light, you're free to use it."
There was still a hint of caution in the sleeper's eyes.
"Won't the light attract nightmare creatures?"
Sunny shook his head.
"This courtyard is secluded enough, I wouldn't worry too much about it."
With a confident smile, Sunny continued:
"And for what it's worth, nothing in the ruins poses much of a threat to me. If something did show up, I could probably kill it without much trouble."
The sleeper's expression flickered with surprise, his eyebrows shooting up as he processed Sunny's words.
Wordlessly, the green-eyed man summoned a paper lantern, filling the courtyard with a gentle yellow light.
The beautiful sleeper scanned Sunny, his gaze freezing as his eyes landed on Sunny's face.
"... Oh wow."
Sunny blinked, caught a little off-guard.
Flashing the sleeper a quizzical look, Sunny watched as a beautiful smile bloomed on the man's face, noting the dimples that accentuated his innocent charm.
"Have you ever considered a career as an idol?"
"Huh?"
___________________________________________________________________
(A/N: Holy fuck, I'm actually dying over here.
I don't know whether I should be happy I'm making more money, or sad that I've got work every day after school.
Either way, I'm a little busier than I bargained for.
I'll probably start posting chapters later at night/earlier in the morning to cope with my new schedule, but if I'm a day late or something, I hope you'll forgive me.
Moving on, I don't know if you noticed, but despite most of the circumstances for their meeting staying the same, I changed a bit about Sunny's first meeting with Kai.
I felt the need to defend myself a little, just in case any of you feel Sunny's characterization is off, so I'll just list off my reasons for my changes.
Most of the interactions that led to Kai mistrusting Sunny in the original meeting were due to Sunny's eccentric behavior and his insistence on hiding certain details or getting defensive when Kai asked about certain things, like where he was currently living.
While reading the chapters covering their meeting, I always felt that if Sunny had literally just been a tiny bit more descriptive, everything would've gone so much better, but I quickly dismissed that thought because the original Sunny had trust issues and had been literally talking to a rock for 3 months.
Here, I didn't feel like there was any justification for Sunny acting the way he did in the original, so I made him act more natural since he hadn't been alone for the months following his split from Neph and was considerably less socially clueless as a result.
Also, please tell me if you think I messed up Kai's characterization.
I read a bunch of his dialogue, but wasn't sure if I got his speech patterns down.
Hopefully, as I play around with his character more, I'll get more used to writing him, but if you noticed any glaring flaws with the way I wrote him in this chapter, feel free to tell me.
Anyway, thanks for reading my little rant.
As always, drop some comments to show me you guys are still there, leave a review so I can see how I'm doing, and if you have a couple of stones lying around, feel free to toss me some too.
I might start doing power stone goals for extra chapters since I see a bunch of other writers doing the same thing, but I'll have to see how much free time I have after this week.
Alright
Thanks for all the support guys, and I'll see you in the next chapter!)