Contemplating her life choices, Aria groaned in mental pain.
'This sucks.'
Everything had just become far too much now. With what happened, she probably wasn't going back to Valor anytime soon either. Perhaps turning to Song wouldn't be a terrible idea…
'Nah. Then it'll just be the same nonsense again…'
As grateful as she was to the man, she sorely regretted listening to his words and joining Valor. Those fools were just… she hated them. Every last one of them. Her cohort was stuck-up and useless, their leadership was snobby and annoying, their internal systems often favoured family connections and wealth over merit and skill for some reason, and their rules and politics just made fuck all sense.
'How the hell have we even survived this long?'
Well, it was obvious. They had a Sovereign at the helm. Absolute power was the greatest merit of all, she supposed.
'Ugh… now I need to find another cohort to enter the Second Nightmare too.'
The only one she'd miss was probably Amiran… Gilead was decent as well, but all his beliefs were just so extremely backwards compared to how he acted that she just couldn't take him seriously. As for all the other ones, they could just go die for all she cared.
Their whole entire clan just pissed her off to no end, especially Anvil. She barely knew anything about him aside from the fact that he just sat around forging swords all day, seemingly to no end. Most of the swords the knights of Valor picked up were simply ones the Sovereign had tossed into the trash pile.
'Really… Does he do anything besides that?'
Was the strongest being in the clan really just busy arming everyone else? What the hell was the point in that? She could see the reasoning behind it, but from everything she'd gleaned from Anvil's personality, she knew that he absolutely did not do it for them. It was just a couple months ago that she'd heard the rumour of a lost prince of Valor returning as well. She'd tried to subtly ask Saint Madoc about it, but…
'Well, at least I know the rumours are true if he reacted that poorly…'
Her thoughts began to drift away from Valor, focusing back on herself instead.
'What am I gonna do now?'
She couldn't exactly just bum around in Sunny's storage Memory forever, even if it did seem a little appealing with how comfortable she was right.
'I'll just ask those two for advice… they'll probably know.'
Sunny and Jet were always busy with something, so surely they had to know what they were doing in life right? No way she was the only one with nowhere left to go?
Wondering if was homeless now, Aria drifted off into sleep.
***
Leaving the spare room he had left the Coffer in, Sunny was immediately attacked.
"Sunnyyy…"
A small hand pulled at his shirt, courtesy of Nephis. Looking at him with pitiful eyes, she asked:
"Is Radiant Dawn really here? Why won't you let me see her?"
He gently pried her hand off, doing his best not to meet her gaze lest his will falter.
"Aria's injured kid. Don't bother her until she's feeling better. I'm sure she'll be happy to see you then."
Grumbling, she pulled his shirt even harder.
"Sunny… big sis said that Radiant Dawn hates snot-nosed brats like me. Is it true?"
He froze for a moment, but continued walking.
"I'm sure she'll like you. As for kids in general… Jet's probably right about that. Where is she anyways?"
Finally letting go, Nephis sighed and walked ahead of him.
"She went out to get food…"
Both of them paused, hearing the sound of the front door opening.
"Oh, nevermind!"
Laughing, Nephis ran down the stairs to greet Jet. He could hear the sounds of muffled curses accompanied by several things crashing to the ground.
"Ah, no!"
Taking a couple steps down, Sunny simply watched in amusement. Jet had bought far too much and the bags had split apart, the boxes of food contained within falling to the floor. Luckily, most of them were tightly shut and wrapped, so nothing substantial was spilled.
Seeing him, Jet smiled sheepishly.
"Oh, hey… is Aria awake?"
He sighed, shaking his head.
"She was for a bit, but I think she's asleep again."
Jet frowned, setting down the remaining bags so she could remove her shoes.
"Again? Is she in the Dream Realm this time?"
"Nope. Special Memory that allows her to actually sleep apparently."
Her eyes widened.
"So then…"
"No again. Three uses only, and that was the last one."
Jet sighed in annoyance.
"Ugh… kid, help me pick up these boxes."
Nephis smiled, having gone silent for a moment to let them speak.
"Okay!"
Sighing, Jet bent down and began picking up some boxes as well.
"Gonna help me out or what? Unless you don't want any of this, that is…"
Scoffing Sunny turned away and began walking back up the stairs.
"I'm sure you can handle it."
"Hey!"
"Sunny!"
Both the girls yelled at him, annoyed. He ignored them, shrugging with a slight laugh.
"Sorry, I have a call to make! Leave some for Aria though, I'm sure she's gonna be hungry…"
He was a little hungry himself, but he really did have some calls to make…
"Sunny, don't you want to eat?"
"Bastard, get ba…"
Shutting the door of his room, he did his best to ignore their voices. He wasn't seriously going to leave them to clean all of that up, he just felt like messing with them. The call he was going to make wouldn't take long.
Sparks of essence began coalescing in front of him, forming a small wooden bird. Activating its enchantment, he whispered a single word into it:
"Tomorrow."
The message was vague, but he was sure Sky Tide would understand. He needed to keep it short anyways, as any message longer than a couple words would just end up as a warbled mess once it reached the other side.
Dismissing the bird, he summoned the Wanderlust Communion, focusing on sending a message to Seishan.
[Do you know what happened to Aria?]
As much as he wanted to know, Radiant Dawn seemed quite out of it currently, so he was leaving the many questions he had for later seeing as she still had one more opportunity to sleep without entering the Dream Realm.
'Or however it is that thing works…'
Sometimes, the shadow he left with her could hear things. In her sleep, Aria tossed and turned quite a lot, apologising for something and calling for her mother. Sunny sighed sadly whenever he thought about it. He'd heard the story of what happened to her, the real story, not the one that was told to the public to boost morale. The movie made about the Forgotten Shore actually had a completely fabricated ending, the scene of Aria reuniting with her at the end being completely made up.
The truth was… Aria's mother had taken her own life years ago, unable to take the constant grief of wondering whether or not her daughter would ever return. Her father was out of the picture as well, having died from the sudden opening of a Gate long ago. All that was left of her family were some aunts and uncles from her mother's side, and if the things he'd heard from her while she slept were any indication of it… their relationship was not good.
'Poor girl…'
He understood her pain, even if she hid it. Every single person in this house did. Still, for what remained of her family to scorn her instead of welcoming her back… that had to have hurt.
'Huh, that sounds kind of familiar…'
Didn't something similar happen with Mordret as well? Maybe he could-
His thoughts were interrupted by a slight pull on his soul.
"Hm?"
Seishan had already responded, sending a message back to him.
'Guess she wasn't busy...'
He still had the Wanderlust Communion summoned, so viewing the message was simple.
[No. What happened?]
Gripping the Memory a little harder, he focused on his response.
[Something with Valor, showed up in the city a few days ago confused. When I tried to speak with her, she suddenly passed out and Saint Jest attacked us a couple seconds later.]
The response was immediate.
[where is she now]
The message seemed a little rushed this time, lacking any proper grammar.
[Recovering at my house.]
Sunny expected another immediate response, but no such thing came. He shrugged it off, tossing the Memory aside as it vanished into a small cloud of sparks. Stepping through the shadows, he appeared behind Nephis and Jet, who were still picking up boxes somehow.
"Gods, you two still aren't done?"
"Gah!"
"Ah!"
Both of them jumped in response, dropping the handful of boxes they were holding. With unmatched dexterity, he managed to catch all of them before they hit the ground, balancing them atop each other perfectly with just the tips of his fingers.
"Tch, show off…"
"Wooow!"
Laughing, he walked past them.
"Come on now! Or should I drop them instead?"
With varying reactions, the two followed him. Glancing at the window, he saw the world outside through a small crack in the curtains. Small hints of orange light pierced the grey sky, a rainstorm brewing as the sun set.
Sunny and Nephis set the table as Jet disappeared into the bathroom, the scent of delicious food drifting throughout the warm atmosphere. Soft chatter buzzed in the background, the entertainment system having been carelessly left on. Despite the worrying situation with Aria, none of them let it stop them from enjoying their time together. In the Age of the Nightmare Spell, if you couldn't cope with tragedy you'd never last.
Just as they finished setting the table, Nephis turned to him, her expression slightly solemn.
"Sunny… is Radiant Dawn really going to be okay?"
Setting down a plate, he sighed.
"Probably."
The girl wasn't convinced, squeezing her hands into small fists.
"Are you sure? Isn't… isn't, you know…?"
Sunny scoffed, reaching over to ruffle her hair.
"Relax, kid. You're fine, aren't you? What makes you think I can't keep Aria safe as well?"
'If she even wants to be safe that is…'
The shadow he'd left to monitor the underground Valor base had seen a couple messages being exchanged. The main message had been to find Aria, but there had been some other ones as well. She seemed to have gone wild for some reason, having suddenly attacked several knights of Valor right in the middle of her Citadel. Well, that was what the briefing said anyways, not that he really believed it.
Nephis seemed to take his words to heart, nodding thoughtfully.
"Okay…"
Jet emerged from the bathroom with a satisfied sigh, cool water dripping from her face. But as they all sat down to eat though, there was a knock at the door.
"Hm? Who's here?"
Both the girls glanced at him, clearly expecting him to go get it.
"Fine…"
He was going to check anyway, but that reaction was sort of annoying…
With a sigh, he stood up and made his way towards the door. Opening it, he greeted…
"Ah, it's you."
With her face covered by a scarf, Seishan appeared, wearing a long and heavy trenchcoat. Her storm grey skin was concealed with blush, and her irises were obscured by bright blue contacts.
'I guess it's low-key enough?'
"Ahem… is she still here?"
"Yeah."
She sighed in relief, lowering her scarf slightly.
"Can I come in? I'd like to make sure she's alright."
"Sure, though I must warn you she just fell asleep. It'll be a while before she's back up."
"Fine by me."
Nodding, he stepped aside and let her in.
"Were you followed? Things are a little tense right now."
Entering with light steps, she shook her head firmly.
"No. I took several precautions before leaving. It would be an embarrassment to my family if I were spotted."
He raised an eyebrow at her harsh response, but nodded amicably. It was a little hard to believe that, considering how hastily put on her disguise looked… it wasn't even scarf weather anymore.
"Good, good. Hungry? We have food… though I'm not sure it would suit your taste."
The Song Sisters had quite unique diets, most likely something to do with the Beast Lineage. He'd picked up on some other strange habits here and there as well, but he wasn't certain if said habits weren't just eccentric behaviours either, Legacies were a weird bunch after all.
"I'm fine. I brought my own if need be."
He nodded in response, leading her inside.
"Say hello you two. We have a guest."
"Seishan!"
"Miss Seishan!"
Nephis and Jet sat up immediately, running up to her with big smiles.
"Oh… is my disguise that bad?"
"It is."
"It is!"
Sunny sighed inwardly.
'It is…'
***
Placing his elbow against the armrest of his seat, Jest crossed his legs and sighed.
"Sir Jest, I can assure you, we have absolutely nothing to do with her. Awakened Naeve has no relation with Lady Radiant whatsoever, and there is no reason for them to be interacting in the way you are suggesting."
He grinned slightly, expression dangerous.
"Oh? And what am I suggesting exactly?"
The woman across from him sneered, clearly annoyed at his arrogance. She was one of the few humans left in the world that could still treat a Saint like him with such contempt.
"What you are suggesting is that my son assisted in the escape of one of your little runaways, in which I regret to inform you, he has nothing to do with."
Her polite words were laced with sarcasm, each one laced with disdain. She was Ascended Illyria, one of the current head honchos of the House of Night. All the top dogs like Knossos and Typhoan were still out in the Third Nightmare, so Masters like her and Bloodwave were left in charge, much to his dismay.
'Those other coots were so much easier to talk to…'
But instead, he was stuck speaking with this sharp-tongued woman… The other ones would've been simple to speak with, as they definitely had a fearful respect thing going on with him, but with her… they were friends back in the day, so she definitely wasn't going to go easy on him.
"And yet I have received no proof of such a thing. Strange, isn't it? Now I am not accusing you… but I would understand your motives. If it were my son, I wouldn't give him up either."
Nails scraped against the wooden desk between them as Illyria clenched her jaw, the vein on her forehead pulsing with anger. Her indigo eyes glowed and jet black hair floated up slightly as if she were underwater. From the angle he was sitting at, he thought he saw a couple grey strands…
"And you have yet to give me any probable cause, Jest. You barge in here, accusing us of some ridiculous cr- No… not even a crime. Radiant Dawn is a hero! If she ran from you, it's your own goddamn faults."
Jest snorted.
"And I have told you that I saw your boy with my own two eyes. He even confirmed that Aria was with him, and I could tell he wasn't lying."
The woman sighed, clearly trying her absolute hardest not to just lunge at him.
"The eyes are easily fooled, Jest. You of all people should know. Now you can either leave, or you can show me some hard evidence of my son's supposed crimes."
"Now, now, don't be like that. If I could just speak to-"
"And I've said it several times now, you aren't speaking to him. Your accusations mean nothing to me, and I find it hard to believe you aren't just here for something else instead."
Jest's eyes narrowed, and his grin widened.
"About time you caught on… anyways, I'd like to recruit a couple of your oracles and trackers. Radiant Dawn has been missing for some days now, and I am greatly worried for her. We wouldn't want the news to spread, would we? Humanity's morale is already fragile as is…"
He still wasn't sold on Awakened Naeve not being the culprit, but he'd have to compromise for now.
Illyria frowned.
"You… you're finally speaking some sense. I'll lend some to you on one condition."
Jest raised an eyebrow.
"That is?"
"Tell me what exactly that Aria kid did that's so bad for you to be chasing her as much as this. No, tell me what you did for her to even run in the first place. I doubt she just suddenly decided to leave one day…"
He shook his head, sighing.
"It's quite a touchy subject right now, so I'll only give you a couple details. As surprising as it may sound, she really did just decide to leave one day. Witnesses say she just freaked out and attacked her own cohort, stating that she lost her temper."
Illyria scoffed, clearly not convinced.
"And then she ran off like a little girl? At least give me a more convincing story before I lend you some of our brightest minds, old man."
"Hey, you are just as old as me! And if you're suspicious of why she ran… Well, she didn't really run. We let her leave."
The woman laughed in disbelief.
"Seriously? You let her leave and now you run around like it's a wild Beast chase? Do you really expect me to believe Valor is that incompetent? Because if they are…"
He shook his head, laughing as well.
"No, no, of course not! You see, we were expecting someone to come for her… and they did."
Illyria paused.
"You're saying she was kidnapped?"
He nodded, putting on a fake frown.
"Something like that. I even personally went to stop it, but… they were far more slippery than I thought they'd be."
The woman's eyes widened.
"Really? Someone managed to escape from you?"
"Yes… and that someone looked exactly like your son. Do you understand my suspicion now?"
She paused, falling in thought for a moment.
"Still no. How did he get away?"
Thinking for a second, Jest recalled the event.
"Well, he put her in some kind of box, and with a blinding flash of light he vanished."
"...What?"
Illyria stared at him, lip twitching in annoyance.
"And you seriously thought that was my Naeve? Just because he looked like him? God, you… nevermind. My son doesn't have any ability like that, so really, don't you ever come here accusing him of such a thing."
He sighed.
'Well when she puts it like that…'
"I understand, Illyria. So then are you willing to lend us some people?"
She brushed him off, scoffing in annoyance.
"Sure, whatever. Just go and I'll send them your way tomorrow. Any leads so far?"
He shook his head, standing up with a pained grunt.
"Nothing much, though we do know she's in the waking world. Someone has also said that she's… inside something. Not a living being or anything like that, so we suspect she's inside some kind of Memory or Echo, or even some sort of unique Aspect."
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, I'll let them know. You can leave now."
With a cheeky grin, he waved and turned to leave.
'How frustrating…'
He was beginning to regret telling his dear nephew to let him handle it now… this was all so annoying.
'Just where have you gone, brat?'
Really, all this hassle just to catch some secret hero? He still couldn't see the point behind any of this chagrin.
'Honestly… that boy just gets dumber as he ages. No sense of humour then and no sense of humour now. I'm starting to think there's no hope for him!'
***
Sunny blinked and subtly scratched his ears, making sure what he was hearing was real.
"Yes, and even after all that, he still demanded a 40% cut. Can you believe that?"
"What?!"
"No way…"
Seishan was recounting a story of one of her recent business ventures to Jet and Nephis, recounting her experiences with the slimy folks of the business world.
'I still have much to learn…'
They sounded terrible and all, but surely their profit margins had to be off the charts… not that he would ever do such a thing, of course! He made plenty of money just writing reports and selling soul shards to Seishan. He didn't run a clan either, so his personal expenses were quite miniscule despite the fact he paid for two, and sometimes three people.
'Hm… maybe it is just three…'
He paid for all the house bills, for a sizable chunk of the food they ate… he even paid the property taxes and all that. As an Awakened and a high ranking citizen, he was exempt from a decent amount of taxes, but he was still an unmarried male with no children, so he paid quite a lot in those.
'Heartbreaking!'
It was a billion times better than living in the outskirts and all, but he couldn't help but sigh in regret every time he saw the number in his account go down.
"What did you do in response?"
"Yeah, tell me, tell me!"
Seishan grinned slightly at their responses.
"I told him to drop dead."
"Damn straight!"
"Seems fair!"
At his end of the table, Sunny snickered. He wasn't taking part, seeing no need to insert himself in the girls' conversation, but he was still listening in. It was quite a curious story.
"After that, he seemed to remember who he was talking to, so he ended up walking away with a… I think it was a 0.4% cut?"
"Haha, nice!"
"Serves him right!"
Sunny nearly choked on his drink upon hearing the number, turning away just in case he spit everything out.
'0.4%... brutal.'
If he walked away with only that much from such a lucrative deal, he may as well have slit his own throat. The man was probably still better off than the absolute majority of people, but damn…
"And after that, I was…"
Sunny subtly tuned them out, focusing on his own thoughts. The conversation was fun and all, but he had too much on his mind to pay full attention to it. Their chatter had been going on for hours now and it was getting quite late, he'd only started paying attention again once he heard them talking about money. Now that that was done though… it was back to overthinking.
There was much to think about right now. What to do with Aria, what to do with himself, what to do with Song, what to do with the Coffer, what to do with Mordret…
'Huh…'
His life was quite the mess right now, wasn't it?
'Why do I feel like it's only gonna get worse…'
He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was coming…
Anxiety gnawed at his mind, though he didn't show it on his face. He was supposed to be the one easing everyone else's worries, not have them worry about him instead. Was that not the reason he pursued strength in the first place?
'Hah…'
He could still remember when did it for himself, and only himself. Now… it was still for himself, but there were other reasons too.
The past life he had left behind felt so far now, like a distant dream. Sometimes… he forgot it ever even happened, and that it wasn't just some fucked up fantasy his half-crazed mind dreamed up.
And sometimes in his sleep, he could still hear them. Their voices were rather distant now.
'And it's barely been a year…'
What about two years? Three? Five? Ten? Would he even think about them anymore at that point? Would he even remember them, or would they just be a phantom in his mind of what had once been? The speed at which he was forgetting them couldn't have been natural, and he suspected that his fading memory was due to the fact that the world he came from simply didn't exist anymore. It wasn't meant to be remembered. Hell, the world he came from technically never even happened. Though maybe it was like the Dream God, who had been forgotten by all after being banished from existence. He still didn't know just what happened for his regression to occur.
But what he did know…
'I still miss them…'
Things felt so… right, back then. Now? The world felt wrong. Different. He felt so out of place, and yet he suspected he was the only one who thought that.
A silent coldness drifted around his body like a wandering spirit.
It used to be so easy… all he had to do was get strong, and people like Nephis and Cassie would lead the charge. But now the future was in his hands, and he was scared of what he could do with it. Such a thing was all too easy to mess up.
Sunny sighed inwardly.
'When was the last time I properly relaxed even?'
Even on the days where he had nothing in particular to do, he was constantly working on things, be it weaving, writing reports, scouting for White Feather, slaying nightmare creatures… he'd done some things casually here and there, but never much. The periods when he felt most relaxed was simply when he was spending time with Nephis, and yet even that made him worry, simply due to the fact that he knew having only Jet and him around would stunt her social development. There was always so much…
The last time he had sat back and truly enjoyed himself was…
'Hm, I suppose it wasn't that long ago.'
It was his time with Hope, of course. The unforgettable months he had spent with her… he'd cherish it for the rest of his life. Even if they hadn't known each other for long, he held their relationship dear to his heart, it was one of the few things nobody could ever take away from him. And for it to be friendship with a daemon of all things…
"...nny? Sunny?"
"G-Huh? What?"
He snapped out of his reverie, realising everyone was looking at him.
"What? What happened? I was zoned out."
Nephis giggled slightly and Jet sighed, neither of them saying anything. Instead, Seishan awkwardly cleared her throat.
"I was asking… you have a spare sleeping pod, right?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah? Well, Jet's using it now…"
As he could physically travel to the Dream Realm now, there was no need for his sleeping pod. He still kept it just for appearances though.
"So you do have a spare. Then… Do you mind if I spend the night?"
His eyebrow threatened to raise even further, but he kept his expression under control.
"Uhhh, sure? I don't mind."
He was a little confused as to why she wanted to, but remembered that it was probably because she was worried about Aria.
"Sweet!"
"Yay!"
Jet and Nephis celebrated at his agreement, clearly glad to have her over.
'They sure do like her…'
Then again, he'd be surprised if they didn't. Seishan was quite literally a celebrity as well as an elite of one of the strongest clans in the world. But at the same time, Jet and Nephis didn't seem like the types to care too much about that…
'I guess she's nicer to them…'
He hadn't paid too much attention to their conversation, but Seishan seemed a lot more outgoing than usual, especially when she spoke with Jet. It was a strange sight, but if they were happy, then so was he.
"Do you have a spare set of clothes? Because I don't exactly have anything for you…"
Seishan shared a glance with Jet.
"I'll be fine with Jet's."
"She can use mine."
He nodded.
"Fine by me then."
Smiling and thanking him, the girls returned to their conversation, the atmosphere around them joyful. As for Sunny, he simply went back to quietly contemplating.
…And somewhere in the waking world, a man's eyes snapped open, glowing a deep and dark blue.
"I think… I think she's around here."
Panting tiredly, the man pointed at a map of NQSC, his finger landing right on a certain district.
Quiet laughter came from beside him.
"...Good."