"Hm~ hmhmm…"
Staring at the seven lightless suns veiled by black clouds, Sunny quietly hummed Oblivion's tune to himself. It was the dead of the night now, and his house had grown quiet. Below in the basement, Seishan and Jet were fast asleep, their souls traversing the Dream Realm, and upstairs, Nephis was fast asleep in her own bed. Solvane sat just outside her door as a guard, tapping away on the communicator they'd taught her how to use.
As for Sunny himself, he sat up in his own bed, meditating. Not because he wanted to stay up, but because he couldn't sleep, his mind far too restless. He always tried to sleep whenever he could, but tonight didn't seem like one of those nights.
So to try to relax, he entered his own Soul Sea, climbing the dark replica of the Ivory Island and sitting atop its roof. The shadow of Hope stood not too far away on the tower's balcony, standing still and silently staring at the sky like it always did. Sunny stared too, reminiscing on their time together.
'I wonder how the real Hope died…'
The death of the daemons was synonymous with the end of the Doom War, that he knew, but surely there had to be more than that…
'Maybe one day.'
He was far too weak to pry into such secrets right now. There were plenty of other things for him to ponder on instead.
"Mmm…"
Staring at the veiled suns, he sighed, feeling a little drowsy. Awakened had such complicated relations with sleep. Most of them were trained right from the beginning to be able to fall asleep at any time, as it was a necessary skill for most of them, Sunny included. And yet here he was.
Thinking about sleep, his mind wandered, his thoughts drifting to and fro. The image of the Dreamcatcher appeared in his mind, superimposed upon his view of his soul. At the same time, his shadow picked up on Aria tossing and turning, murmuring something in her sleep.
'I wonder… what she's… dreaming… about…'
Drowsiness overtook him, and the world faded.
***
Sunny dreamed of the Forgotten Shore.
"How did you sleep, Aria?"
A familiar voice tugged at his ears, pulling at his attention.
'Who…'
He turned his head towards it. No… Aria turned her head towards it.
"Fine."
Sunny shuddered at the sight of the person she was speaking to.
'You…'
It was Silver, the first Bright Lord, the man he had killed in the Rivers of the Underworld. He did not look back fondly at the memory, with it being tainted in regret. He was saddened by it every single time he remembered the fact that he'd been too late to save him. Had he just gone to the Dark City a couple months earlier, maybe he could've…
"Hehe, good! Get up, it's time for us to go."
Aria tiredly rubbed her face, confused.
"It is…? Go where?"
Silver grinned, pointing behind him.
"Where else? Out of here!"
Sunny paled. He remembered this- no… Aria remembered this. This was the last day she ever saw him, the man she missed the most.
"Why…? The city isn't that bad…"
The man laughed, his beautiful golden blonde hair fluttering in the wind.
"Sure, I suppose it's not! But don't you want to go home?"
She thought about it for a bit, of her mother, who was sure to be worried sick about her.
"No."
…She never wanted to see that wretched woman again.
"Ah? Well, that's too bad I suppose…"
Silver smiled pitifully, rubbing the back of his head with a pained laugh.
"Then… how about this? I'll find the way out, and you keep the people back here safe. Once me and the others get out, we'll come back for ya for sure!"
Aria opened her mouth to speak, but found no words.
"Okay? Okay!"
Patting her on the shoulder twice, he turned and left, the gem on his forehead gleaming in what felt like sorrow. She silently reached out an arm to him, wanting to tell him to come back, but the words never came.
The memory faded.
The city around turned to dust, shifting and rebuilding itself as Aria stared at her feet in despair.
"Aria, Aria! Looks like we're getting out today!"
The clinking of armour and fluttering of vermillion banners filled her ears, accompanied by the sound of bottles opening.
"...Great."
She was in no mood to speak with her cohort members right now. The local populace bustled around her, cheering and laughing as they shared drinks together, celebrating a job well done. The final wave of nightmare creatures had been repelled, and they could finally rest for a while. She did not join the festivities however, instead she quietly sat on an empty barrel not too far away from the crowd, twirling a small knife in her hand. It was a Memory she had been gifted a long time ago, a mere Dormant blade, more useful for cooking than fighting. Still, she made it a habit to have it on her at all times, just to ensure she was never caught by her Flaw.
Hearing the sound of a group of people encouraging another group to keep drinking, she groaned and turned away.
She was sick of it. So sick of it.
It reminded her far too much of her time on the Forgotten Shore, of when she had been leading a small army just like this one. She still regretted not joining Silver to this day. Maybe if she did, she wouldn't be stuck here, surrounded by imbeciles and charlatans.
All she wanted in life was to live freely, to do her own thing, with her own people. These people weren't them, and this… task she was burdened with, wasn't it. She missed her old cohort, the excitement, the familiarity, the closeness… since she'd lost it, nothing had ever been the same. They were the greatest family she could've ever hoped for, and she had squandered it due to her own cowardice. She never wanted to live like that again.
Maybe back then… when she decided to siege the Crimson Spire… maybe she already knew she would fail, that they would all die hopelessly. And somewhere, deep down, perhaps she wanted that to happen. Her life was destined to be pitiful and pointless anyways, so why not go out doing what she loved?
And then he came, Sunless. He pulled her out of her hell, giving her the freedom she'd longed for. He did things she didn't think were possible, said things she didn't know were real. After so long, she'd finally met someone exciting!
And then… he'd put her back in the same nightmare.
The same old people, same old tasks.
It wasn't really his fault, she should've expected something like this. He didn't know what kind of person she was, all he had seen was an opportunity, trying to make the best of a bad situation. She told herself, time and time again, that she shouldn't blame him for her own choice, but she just couldn't help herself…
But even with all that, she couldn't bring herself to hate him.
It was her own choice that brought her here. Her own…
"Aria? You gonna join us?"
A familiar sounding voice came from behind her and tapped her on the shoulder twice.
"Don't touch me."
She swatted the hand away, a deep seated rage boiling within her. Turning around, she saw him for a moment, blonde hair, a gem on his forehead… Then, it faded. The golden blonde hair she thought she saw was more of a light brown, and the gem was just a third eye, its iris glowing a subtle pink. It was a member of her cohort, Shtad.
The man did not react too kindly to her provocation.
"Huh? What's your problem?"
He sneered at her reaction, lacking any and all respect for a mongrel like her who came from mediocrity.
"My problem is you. Go away."
Aria tried her best to calm her seething rage, but clearly her expression needed some work.
"What? And what is it that I did exactly?"
She scoffed, turning away.
"You're bothering me."
"...Hm."
The man clenched his jaw and balled his fists.
"You know… you've seriously been pissing me off."
She ignored him completely.
"Coming in acting all high and mighty… what gives you the right?"
Taking a step forward, he grabbed her collar, lifting her up slightly.
"Answer me! You moody bi-!"
Saliva and sweat scattered as her fist cracked across his face, twisting his neck hard and leaving a deep imprint on his cheek.
"..."
The crowd of partying Awakened around them froze, the small Citadel going deathly silent.
With blood dripping from his lips, Shtad turned back to her in disbelief.
"You-"
Another blow slammed into his chin, her vicious uppercut sending him into the air temporarily. The man tumbled to the ground, knocked out.
"What gives me the right?"
Aria could no longer control her anger. All the frustration she had been holding back poured at once as she took several steps forward.
"What gives me the right?!"
Mounting the man's breastplate, she reared a fist back.
"What gives me the fucking right?!"
What came afterward was a vicious beating, several hard punches slamming into Shtad's face and nose. Bones snapped and teeth clattered to the ground as she disfigured his face with just her bare fists.
"Aria, stop!"
"Radiant Dawn!"
"Has she lost it?"
The Citadel had gone silent after her first punch, the crowd of people around them freezing to watch their altercation. Once she started beating him down though, several burly men rushed forward to pull her away, barely able to combat her strength.
"Let go-! Let go of me!"
Aria screamed and shouted, struggling against their grasps. She didn't really know why she wanted to beat on Shtad in particular, but damn did it feel good.
As the prone figure of the fallen knight grew smaller and smaller, the memory faded.
'What the hell…'
Sunny watched on, confused as all hell.
What in the world was this? Why was he seeing Aria's memories?
Before he could think about it any further, the memory reconstructed itself. The rough and rugged stone of the Dream Realm vanished, becoming the sleek and polished walls of the waking world. They were now at the Valor compound.
"Aria? Are you alright?"
Her handler knocked at the door, the woman's meek voice laced with nervousness.
Aria groaned, getting out of bed and rubbing her face tiredly. She had just woken up, having used the Memory her friend had gifted her to get a good night's sleep rather than travel back to the gods forsaken Dream Realm.
"I'm fine…"
The door cracked open a tiny bit, a brown eye peering through.
"Are you sure? I hear you had an… altercation."
"...Yeah. Something like that."
The door opened completely and the woman stepped in, clearly concerned. She was a short mundane woman with bushy brown hair that spilled over her shoulders, her round face was framed by thick, black-rimmed glasses, its lenses several centimeters wide. She was as cute as a button, and couldn't harm a fly.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
"Nope."
Stepping inside, the woman sat on the bed next to her, placing a head against her shoulder and sighing.
"Are you sure? Lord Madoc-"
"I don't care what Madoc thinks."
Her handler whimpered slightly, moving away.
Seeing that, Aria sighed, reaching out to her.
"I-... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lash out at you."
She was one of the few people in Valor she genuinely trusted. She had been kind to her from the day they met, meeting her every need with a kind smile.
"I-It's okay, it's just… you're a little scary sometimes."
The woman weakly accepted her hand, holding it tightly as they sat together for a while in silence.
"Aria… could you come with me? I'd like to show you something. I think it'll cheer you up!"
Glancing at her handler wordlessly, Aria nodded. Honestly, she wasn't in the mood right now, but since it was her… she'd relent. What was the worst that could happen?
The memory shifted again, and now they were walking together in a dark hallway deep underground.
"What is it that you want to show me exactly?"
The woman laughed sweetly, running ahead.
"You'll see!"
Quietly sighing, Aria walked after her, speeding up just a little bit.
"Wait up…"
Reaching the end of the end of the hallway, she saw that her handler was gone. Instead, an open door waited for her.
"Miss? Are you here?"
She called out for the woman, now slightly nervous. Having been so out of it, she hadn't even realised how isolated this place was. There were no windows, barely any lights, and the only door was the one right in front of her. She tried to look into the room, but it was far too dark for her to see anything.
Creeping a bit closer, she stuck her head through the door, her arm fumbling around for a light switch.
"Mi-?"
Aria stumbled forward, having been shoved from behind. Falling on her hands and knees, she turned back in confusion.
"What-"
With a small click, an iron door suddenly slammed down, closing off the world on the outside. Through a small pane of bulletproof glass, she saw the face of her handler frowning in regret. Her mouth moved, but she couldn't hear her voice through the thick door.
"Miss…? What is this?"
Before she could attempt to pry the door open, a solemn voice came from behind her, and the lights flicked on.
"Radiant Dawn."
Aria froze. That voice…
Turning around, she saw him.
Saint Whispering Blade.
"You… what is this?"
Why was she down here? What were they going to…
"Come, sit."
Her eyes widened in horror. Another person stood next to Madoc, a woman she knew a bit about. There wasn't much information on her, but there were rumours among her fellow clan members, speaking of how she could force people to say things they didn't want to say, reveal the things they keep close to their heart, an interrogator. Or as some liked to call them, an inquisitor.
"No… no, you wouldn't."
She took a step back, pinning herself to the wall.
"Aria, don't make this difficult. We both know you know."
Madoc just stared at her sadly, his expression grave.
"Bastard… bastard! Why are you looking at me like that, huh? Just let me go!"
There was a steel chair in the center of the room welded straight into the floor. Chained to it were cufflinks covered in mystical runes, ones that could suppress a person's essence.
This was where Valor interrogated prisoners and spies, or Awakened who connived against humanity.
And yet… one of humanity's shining stars was locked down here instead.
Reaching for the Oath, Aria tried to contact Sunny. No… that wasn't going to happen. He had vanished from her Oath a while back and he could've been dead for all she knew.
Instead, she tried reaching for everyone else.
"It won't work, Aria. Just tell us what we need to know, and it won't have to be this way."
They wanted to know about Sunny. Of course they did. Anvil had a strange obsession with finding him for whatever goddamn reason, and the people under him had no choice but to follow his orders.
'Why… why did I…'
Aria immediately calmed herself down.
There were two possibilities. One was that Sunny had died in his Second Nightmare, causing their Oath to sever. The other was that her Aspect simply didn't allow people ranked higher than her to be under her Oath, which meant that he was an Ascended already.
She could gamble on the fact that Sunny was dead and tell them everything, or…
"Please! Please, let me out!"
Her fists slammed against the iron door, which only dented ever-so-slightly against her blows.
Madoc sighed, slowly walking towards her.
"Don't… don't! Stay away!"
'I declare that…'
She screamed and shouted, kicking and screaming. Yet inwardly, her mind was a placid lake. She had invoked her Awakened ability and was putting everything on the line.
'I will not remember Sunny until…'
A rough grip yanked her by the arm as she tried her best to pull away.
'If I am forcefully made to…'
Her back slammed into the chair, rough hands keeping her arms from flailing around.
'To bind this vow, I will…'
Chains rattled and locks clicked around her wrists and ankles.
'If I…'
Soft hands were placed on the sides of her face, and sweet whispers brushed against her ears.
'Then I…'
…The memory faded.
Now, she was wandering the streets of NQSC, lost. The lights of the nearby shops dazzled her, to the point she couldn't think straight.
Only one burning thought was on her mind.
'He got me into this situation, so he has to fix it.'
Who 'he' was, she wasn't sure anymore, but…
"Hm?"
A familiar scent reached her nose, carried by the wind. Looking over, she saw a café she remembered visiting, and yet not who she visited it with.
'Yes… yes I am quite hungry…'
Wandering in, she ordered the tastiest looking meal and waited.
And when something tapped her ankle…
***
Sunny's eyes snapped open.
"Gah!"
He breathed heavily, gasping for air.
'What… what the hell?'
He… he was back in his bed now?
Sweat drenched his entire body, he felt sickly and weak. His head spun, and his vision was constantly focusing and unfocusing.
"N-Ngh…"
He tried to stand, only to weakly flop over. His back ached quite terribly as well, having been stuck in a bent position the entire night.
'I'm… I'm out of essence.'
Groaning, he shifted into a sleeping position, panting hard as he stared at the ceiling.
'Wha… What just happened?'
Why was he out of essence? He was experiencing some minor essence exhaustion as well…
Coughing hard, he glanced at the window.
'Still nighttime…?'
The house was still dead silent. A mere several hours had passed, leaving him in the early hours of the morning.
Finally catching his breath, Sunny looked at his shaking palm.
'That was… that was Aria's dream.'
From the memories, he recognised some of the things she said. Putting two and two together, he realised that he'd just experienced what she was experiencing while she slept.
'Dreams…'
He instantly realised who the culprit was, or rather, what the culprit was. The gloomy shadow stationed in Nephis' room glanced at the Dreamcatcher hanging above her bed.
'That…'
A certain line of runes were lit up, but were quickly fading. Before he could react, they faded completely, returning to the dormant state it had lain in for so long.
Sunny had just unintentionally activated one of the Dreamcatcher's enchantments, entering Aria's dream. The last thing he remembered before dozing off was wondering what she was dreaming about, and then suddenly he fell into her dream and began experiencing her past memories alongside her? He'd have to be a complete moron to call that a coincidence.
'I see… I see! Not a bad ability… it's like Nightmare's [Dreamwalker]...'
Of course, an ability that required him to be asleep was something he could practically never apply in the middle of combat, but he could still think of a couple applications of it, like the one he'd made just now.
'Though…'
That was a massive breach of privacy and trust… he'd need to speak to Aria about it.
'Damn…'
He had no idea she'd felt so strongly about such things… if only she'd have spoken to him, he could've gotten her out. But now…
He shook his head. There was no time to ponder it. Considering how close to the present the final memory had been, Aria had to be waking up soon. He needed to make himself presentable.
'I need a shower…'
He was thoroughly drenched by his own sweat. Glancing back at his sheets, he frowned in mild annoyance.
'I'll need to wash those too.'
Finally recovering enough to move properly, he stood up with some effort. Stumbling with unsteady steps, he slowly made his way to the shower.
***
"..."
Sunny sat still, leaning against the wall with his hands clasped. Right next to him was Aria, still asleep on the Shadow Bed. Her breathing was a bit unsteady now, and he could feel her stirring.
"Ugh…"
Rolling over with a pained groan, she groggily opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling.
Blinking a couple of times, she rolled back over and closed her eyes.
"Hey… hey!"
The woman sucked in a sharp breath, jolting slightly.
"Wo-What?! I'm up! I'm up!"
She sat up immediately, wiping away the saliva that stained her lips.
"Oh, it's you. The hell was that for?"
Aria glared at him, clearly annoyed at having been startled awake.
"Aren't you on your last charge of that sleep thing? What would happen if you woke up and fell back asleep immediately?"
She blinked, rubbing her eyes.
"...Oh. Right. Whoops."
Shaking her head, she slapped her cheeks and breathed deeply, waking herself up.
"Okay I'm up. Sooo… what's going on?"
Sunny sighed, handing her a box and some utensils.
"Eat up first. You must be hungry."
Her eyes brightened at the sight of food, a long string of drool leaking from her mouth.
"Yes! Gimme!"
Snatching the box out of his hands, she pried it open and began digging in like a starved animal.
Sunny inwardly sighed.
'Had I not seen everything… I never even would've been able to tell.'
Even his shadow sense seemed to betray him, feeling no lingering negative emotions from her shadow.
Sunny sat quietly, contemplating what to say as Aria devoured the meal before her, chewing loudly. When she finished, he sighed.
"Aria…"
Still chewing, she looked at him.
"Yesh?"
"Why didn't you tell me you hated being with Valor?"
She immediately froze, her rampant chewing grinding to a halt.
"...Ah."
Looking away, she did not respond for a while.
"How did you know?"
Sunny remained silent for a while as well, deciding how he should tell her.
"...Saw your dreams."
Her head snapped towards him, sneering.
"You what?"
Annoyance and distaste immediately bubbled from her shadow like a tide.
"It was a mistake. I unintentionally activated one of my Memories and it caused me to enter your dream."
Hearing him apologise, she cooled down, teeth no longer bared.
"Bah… whatever. Well, what did you see?"
Sunny lowered his head slightly.
"What happened with your cohort, and what happened leading up to your interrogation. I… I'm sorry, Aria. I didn't think Valor would treat a rising star like you so harshly. This is my mistake."
The woman groaned loudly, leaning back into her bed.
"Ugh, enough with your apologies. This makes it easier for me to explain then…"
Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eye.
"I want out. From Valor. From all of this."
He nodded in understanding.
"Of course. Where do you want to go?"
Aria stopped to think, contemplating deeply.
After a while, she seemed to have decided.
"...With you."
He raised an eyebrow.
"With me?"
"Yeah. You go on all sorts of wacky and incredibly irresponsible adventures all the time, right?"
Facepalming, Sunny groaned.
"...Something like that?"
Aria nodded.
"I want in on that. No more of this clan bullshit, I've had enough of high society."
"Understandable. Though I do think you're overestimating how much fun I have…"
She scoffed.
"Please. What was the last thing you did in the Dream Realm?"
"Uhhh…"
Sunny stopped to think, trying to remember what he was doing last.
"I was just sitting in my room practicing my sorcery."
"...Really?"
"Ah, there was also some weird kid who came to visit me. Interesting fellow, but we just spoke and he left."
Aria narrowed her eyes, leaning closer to him.
"And before that?"
Sunny thought even harder, trying to remember what he was doing through the haze of memories he had just experienced through the dream.
"Before that… I was digging through an ancient destroyed grove looking for a magical tree that allows this one really old ship to fly."
Seeing Aria grin madly, he inwardly lamented.
"And before that?"
"Slaughtering the ever loving hell out of a Fallen Tyrant."
Her smile widened even further, and he knew there was no more changing her mind.
"See, that! That's what I want! No more of this bureaucracy bullshit! Come on Sunny, please!"
He sighed loudly, slumping in his seated position.
"...Fine. It's gonna take a bit of time to be able to move you around properly though."
"What? Why?"
He knocked on the steel wall behind him, grinning weakly.
"See… I can't dismiss this thing while you're inside it. I've been working on a fix, but I can't exactly do much while you're sleeping around in it, so I need you out as soon as possible."
Aria immediately lifted the blanket off of herself, sitting up in the bed.
"No problem! Let's get a move on!"
Gripping her forearm firmly, he gave a stern look.
"Go out, and I assure you Valor will find you immediately. Give me some time first."
Deflating, she sat back down with a frustrated scoff.
"How long exactly?"
"It'll be today. At around…"
Summoning the Sage of the North Sea, he listened to the message from Sky Tide.
"Lunch. Around lunch."
Aria stared at the wooden bird, confused.
"The hell's that?"
"A messenger Memory, don't worry about it. Ah, also, if you're really serious about defecting, give me every single Memory and Echo you've received from Valor."
The woman flinched.
"E-Every single one?"
He nodded, expression stone cold.
"Every single one, I'm serious. Valor is filled with all sorts of smiths and enchanters, it's like, their whole thing. I'm sure they could insert tracking into any and all sorts of Memories if they so choose to. We can't take any risks."
"Aw… well, okay."
With a dejected sigh, she reached her hand out and grabbed his shoulder, preparing to-
"Well not yet! Relax!"
"Wha… you said give them to you!"
Sunny laughed, shaking his head.
"I did say that… Well, I'll tell you when. For now, just sit tight. Oh and by the way, someone came to visit you, I won't say who just yet, so don't ask."
"Then why even say it…"
Standing up, he turned to leave.
"Where are you going now?"
He turned to her, shrugging.
"To make breakfast? You aren't the only one who has to eat, you know…"
Her eyes widened.
"Oh, right. Forgot you don't live alone. Uhhh… see you soon then?"
"Yep."
Turning to leave again, Sunny froze.
"Oh… and before I forget."
He turned to her with a wicked grin, and the darkness within the Coffer surged, growing impossibly deep and snuffing out the feeble lights coming from the lanterns within. Deep hissing came from the shadow, causing even the tough steel to vibrate harshly.
"W-Wha…"
The Soul Serpent slowly revealed itself, fangs bared and eyes glowing. Scales shifted and crackled, sounding like breaking glass. Despite the lack of wind, a bone chilling gust of air brushed past them.
Aria stared at it, petrified and completely unable to move.
"S-Su… Su…"
She weakly raised an arm towards it, pointing at the terrifying monster.
Serpent locked eyes with her, invoking the [Mark of Shadows].
Upon receiving the mark, Aria could suddenly see everything. With a loud screech, and jumped back in her bed, pressing herself against the wall.
'I might be overdoing it…'
Serpent was a Transcendent Titan this time around… he couldn't be bullying Awakened like this with it anymore.
Receiving a command to tone it down, the Shadow immediately relented, lowering its head and closing its jaws.
"What is… what is…"
Feeling a little bad, he could not bring himself to laugh.
"I think I may have overdone it a bit there… but that was the Soul Serpent. Check your attributes to see what just happened. If you really want to do what I do, you'll have to deal with facing things as terrifying as that. Understand?"
Still rapidly breathing, Aria was finally able to weakly point at Serpent.
"That thing is… is… so fucking cool!"
Her terrified expression faded, making way for an extremely weak grin.
"Good g-gods! Is that really yours?"
Hearing the steel of the Coffer groan and bend against Serpent's lumbering form, he dismissed it, dusting his hands off.
"Yep. Now with the mark you just received…"
"Got it, got it! That was its Tyrant ability right? I just received some kind of blessing or something, right? Right?!
Sunny blinked.
"...Yeah. Close enough."
No longer able to contain her excitement, Aria jumped up off the bed.
"Alright! Yes! I knew this was the right choice! Knew it!"
Running up to him, she wrapped him up in a tight hug and gave him a big wet kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! You won't regret this!"
She ran off again, summoning her own Soul Serpent and immediately testing out its capabilities, leaving him to stand there in a daze.
'You're… you're welcome?'
Not saying another word, he left the Coffer to prepare breakfast.