"I.. I do?" He asked as he looked around in confusion.
"Yes, I don't want to alarm you, but it seems like a spirit has attached itself to you, yet I can hardly see it, and it's not speaking, but it is there. The spirit's soul is lightless and dark as the abyss itself." Daly looked directly at Sunny again with an intense but curious gaze.
'Ah, hell, this is a problem, she thinks you're a spirit gloomy, just-um play along!'
"Will it be a problem?" Dunn Smith glanced at gloomy for a moment with a blank expression before looking at Daly.
"No, it shouldn't be so long as it behaves itself, right?" Daly stared at Sunny's gloomy shadow again, who, this time, stared back and hesitated for a moment before nodding, making the woman smile and nod at Dunn.
"Anyways, don't be so weirded out by her previous statement about getting you loosened up. We are different from the fellows at the church of the Lord of Storms; here, the ladies can verbally tease men. You should be able to understand, as your mother was a devout believer of the goddess, and you, along with your brother, used to attend Sunday school at church." Dunn, who was seated across from him, said with a slight laugh.
"I understand, I just never thought she would be such a…. such a…." Klein started,
"Don't worry, Daly seldom does this; she's just teasing as another method to calm you down. She actually prefers corpses over men." Dunn interrupted, the corners of his lips curled upwards.
"You're making me sound like a pervert," Daly interjected with a smile, then took out two thumb-sized bottles from her waist pouch and put one on the table, and opened one of them, dripping them onto the bright candle flame.
"Night vanilla, slumber flower, and chamomile, all distilled and extracted to form this aromatic floral essence. I call it 'Amantha'. It means tranquility in the Hermes language. It smells amazing."
'I have no idea what any of that means,'
How could he? He just got here and was learning the city around him.
As Sunny listened to the two idly chat, he saw the candle flame flicker and evaporate the floral essence filling the room with its aroma.
At least Sunny assumed it did; he couldn't tell, as his shadows couldn't smell anything. None of his helpers could, except the ones who were suited for combat, that being nightmare, fiend, and Saint; all of them couldn't see colors either, so he couldn't tell what the actual color of the candle was.
Apparently, it smelled really amazing, as Klein's tense posture immediately relaxed.
"This bottle is called the Eye of the Spirit. Barks and leaves of dargo and poplar trees are sun-dried for 7 days and decocted 3 times. Then, they are immersed in Lanti wine; naturally, there would be several incantations while we're at it." The woman described the liquid calmly.
Sunny heard her loud and clear, but couldn't understand a word of what she was saying, though he noticed that the flame was now wildly dancing and that Klein was relaxing further as she continued to speak.
"It is a great helping hand for mediumship. It is also a floral essence that is sufficiently enchanting."
Suddenly, Klein swayed in place and closed his eyes.
***
After 10 minutes of sitting in place with his eyes closed, Klein opened them at Dunn, who was still sitting comfortably on the couch, then looked at Daly, who was also still sitting on the sofa.
"Why did you use the theory that belongs to evil madmen? The psychology alchemists?" Dunn asked as he furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Daly.
"I think it's pretty accurate, at least it corresponds with some of the things I've made contact with before." Daly shrugged and continued without waiting for a reply. "This tricky fellow didn't leave a single trace."
"Oh, it's over? What happened? It just felt like I took a nap." He said, heaving a huge sigh of relief for some reason.
Nap…
Why did that remind him of something?
"Just take it as such. Have you examined Welch's and Naya's bodies?" Dunn interrupted Klein and looked at Daly.
"The corpses can tell you a lot more than you can imagine. It's such a pity that Welch and Naya committed suicide. The force that drove them to do it was fear, so not a single trace was left behind." Daly stood up and pointed at the candle. "I need some rest,"
The candle flame vanished, and the home was bathed in crimson.
***
"Congratulations, you can return home now. But do remember that you are not to reveal this information to your loved ones. You have to promise this." Dunn said as he led Klein to the door and walked outside.
As Sunny saw the night sky, a thought suddenly hit him like a nightmare gate,
'Smyrin's bakery!'
He was so focused on the things he had just learned that it almost slipped his mind.
Commanding gloomy to stay in Klein's shadow and continue to listen so that Sunny could hear what they said when he had the time, he ran downstairs, past Cassie, who was still sitting at a table, and opened the door, closing it behind him.
"Master Sunless, where are you going?" Nephis asked as she watched Sunny bolt out of the Brilliant Emporium.
"My new job!" Sunny replied as he jogged past everyone else who had set up a makeshift camp and were sitting on the floor in the main hall.
"I'll be sure to visit you, Master Sunless," Kai said with a smile
"Here you go, my friend, in case you need to contact me. If you do need to, then say my name once, not three times, only once, someone couldn't get that through their head. I'm talking about you, Princess Lonesome Howl, as much as you like to think I am, I'm not the urban legend Bloody Mary." Mordret said, scoffing at the handsome Princess who rolled her eyes at his statement.
The Prince of Nothing then turned his attention back to Sunny, a pleasant smile playing at his lips, and handed him a mirror shard.
Sunny regarded him for a moment before taking it with a forced smile and putting it in his pocket, then nodded before walking briskly out of the citadel.
After a few minutes of walking, Sunny realized that he had no way of knowing the exact time; he only knew he had arrived far earlier than he should have.
He needed to buy a pocket watch as soon as possible.
Still, he picked up an old can and grabbed the spare key Mrs. Smyrin had told him about yesterday, when he was hired, then dropped it, unlocked the door, and entered the bakery, only to find it empty.
Closing the door behind him and opening the curtains, Sunny put on his apron and walked around to the cash register, where a note was attached, picked it up, and then began reading it out loud.
"Sunless, since you said you ran a cafe before coming here, I trust that you know how to set things up before flipping the sign to open. If you are reading this, then I was right in thinking that you would arrive here earlier than necessary. Since you did, you will have to attend to any customers who come in and place their orders, as I will likely still be asleep. Consider this a test to see if the words you told me yesterday hold true. If you hold your own until I get here, then I might consider giving you an early raise."
'What a sassy old bird,' Sunny decided that he liked her already and quickly got to setting up the shop, and after a few minutes of getting ready and flipping the sign to open.
After an hour of waiting for someone to show up, he went into the kitchen to prepare, and that was when the door creaked open and shut.
"It's good to see you again, Sunless," a joyous voice said. Sunny went to the register to see the sunrise peaking above the building, and a man in his thirties, with an unreasonably handsome face, his lips curved in a charming smile, as if he were waiting to close a deal. A deal that no one could resist, standing in front of the door, staring at him.
He was the stranger, Sunny, and Beastmaster saw him yesterday, only this time he wore a top hat.
"Hello again, stranger, how can I help you?" Sunny asked as he put the lemon cakes down and took off his gloves.
"Call me, Michael. I'm very sorry I wasn't able to introduce myself yesterday; I was in a bit of a hurry. I know it's oddly suspicious for a wealthy man like me to be in place, huh? I can't say I blame you for being wary of me." Michael stared at him, a smile on his face, his green eyes shining with curiosity and delight.
"How come you didn't tell me your name yesterday? You also never told me how you knew mine. How did you know it?"
Sunny knew that there was something off about this guy; he could feel it. There was something unsettling about his presence, as if he wasn't looking at a human but a creature pretending to be one.
Like the skinwalker,
But… but somehow it felt even worse than that, more alien, he just couldn't put his finger on it.
"I'm sorry, I figured you already knew me because of my status, but now I see why you didn't, it's because you're so poor, considering you had no money to buy clothes," Michael said, looking at Sunny with confusion too genuine to be an act.
"No, it's not. And no, I just moved here, that's why I'm poor." Sunny said as he tapped his fingers in annoyance on the counter.
Sunny was a rich man! He just so happened not to have a single cent of this new currency, that was all!
"Oh, goodness, was that rude? I'm really sorry for being so rude yesterday, and just now, as you can probably tell, my social skills aren't the best. I've been away from civilization for a long time. In fact, I never truly grew up around it, so I tend to say things that make people not want to be around me." The older man looked at him with guilt as he continued to ramble; it was so present that Sunny could even feel it radiating through his shadow.
He couldn't even find anything bad about the guy, as he looked like a kicked puppy. This man was basically another Kai; in fact, he was harmless, and Sunny could trust this guy not to hurt him. He could trust him with anything.
"I don't hate you, but you never answered my second question." Sunny hastily interjected, cutting the rambling short, but the man had already changed topics and was muttering to himself about it.
"I wonder if they still have those cinnamon rolls?"
"Mr.Michael?"
"Lily said she left a to-do list so that I wouldn't forget… forget what though? Ha! I seldom forget!"
"Mr.Michael!"
"Was it buying bread or meat?"
"Mr.Michael?!"
"Hm? What is it, young man?"
"My second question," Sunny said with a slightly exasperated tone.
How could he change topics so fast and forget that easily?
"Second… question? Oh, yes, yes! I overheard your stunningly beautiful lady say your name and about how you weren't paying attention when you two were walking to the clothes store."
That….made sense, but why the hell was everyone assuming he knew Beastmaster intimately?!
He didn't even like the woman!
Also, this guy seemed a little scattered; he couldn't help but feel pity- maybe he should tell the nice man what he knew about Weaver? Maybe that would cheer him up. Yes, that seemed like a great idea; it would be so simple.
Sunny suddenly felt his blood run cold,
'W-Where the hell are these thoughts coming from?'
"I see, well, I'm sorry for the interrogation, I'm just wary. What would you like to order?" Sunny asked and forced a smile, trying to push down the unease he felt around the man since he came to the bakery.
The man ignored his question and continued,
"No, no, I understand, it's a new place with new people, and you have no idea who's trustworthy and who isn't. You have every right to be on your guard around strangers; in fact, I would consider you a fool if you weren't!" He laughed brightly and stared at him with his emerald eyes, which shone with mirth, and suddenly, Sunny's unease was replaced with an unnatural happiness as well.
"Trust is hard to gain and easy to break," Sunny said with a nod and a smile, despite his earlier wariness. This sudden change didn't go unnoticed by Sunny.
This entire interaction was so forced, so unorganized, so unsettling.
"Yes, it truly is! Unfortunately, Sunless, I learned the hard way when two people I considered friends betrayed me, and all I wanted to do was learn a little history, you know? I consider myself a historian after all." The man flashed a friendly smile and walked closer until he stood before the counter.
"I'm a historian too," Sunny said as his mouth seemingly moved on its own.
Why was this man telling him this?
No, but why was he so afraid of him in the first place? He was a friend, a fellow historian, and Sunny could tell him about his findings on the demon of fate, how he acquired their lineage, and where the shadow god lineage went.
Sunny suppressed a shiver as he realized his thoughts had randomly switched to lineages again.
'This… this is all wrong.'
This wasn't right. Everything about this wasn't right.
Sunny was confused and somewhat frightened as he couldn't tell which thoughts were his own or who was controlling them.
He couldn't even trust his emotions.
"Then you know exactly how exciting it can be when you're learning about things that were forgotten in the past and the things shrouded in secrecy in the present." 'Michael,' if that was even his real name, paused to gather his thoughts, then continued.
"There is so much to discover and so many mysteries in this new world. What is a pathway? How many are there? Why is the moon crimson? Why have the gods of this world not intervened yet? Why were we brought here?" He fired off a series of questions, questions that Sunny had no way of answering at all.
W-what? What the hell was this guy talking about?
'And there goes that word 'pathway' again,'
"I don't know what a pathway is, I don't know how many there are, I don't know why the moon is crimson, I don't know who the gods are and why they haven't intervened, I don't know any of that," Sunny replied to each question, forcing the answers out of his mouth after the pain of his flaw became too great.
"Ah, that's okay, but I digress! How distraught I was, how hurt I was when they did that, but that is in the past, and I am in a new place with new people and old faces. Besides, I have to focus on walking correctly and dealing with gravity after being trapped in a place with unfathomable beings for over two decades."
"I don't understand a single thing you're saying. If you're not going to buy anything, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Sunny said with narrowed eyes and a firm tone, getting the man to nod absentmindedly as he barely acknowledged what Sunny said.
"Of course not, but you will eventually. But, I will tell you this, the moon might look stunning from down below on your Earth, but, from my experience, it is pretty damn dreadful. What I'm trying to say is it's good to be back on the ground even though this isn't the waking world." The man turned away towards the door, opened it, and stepped outside.
What in the dead gods was this man talking about?
"Why don't you use your real name? Instead of using your vessel's name, Saint Mordret?" Sunny forced a polite smile.
As the man was stepping outside, he suddenly stopped, then looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow and walked backwards.
"You-you thought I was that boy this entire time?" The man burst with laughter and wiped a tear from his eye before slowly stopping.
'This guy is out of his mind,'
"No, no, I'm not that boy, and no, I'm not out of my mind, I told you, Sunless, you already know my name. Besides, Saint Nightingale already confirmed that little Mordret never set foot in that store yesterday. Come now, Saint Sunless, use your brain, I know you're much, much smarter than that." He shook his head in amusement.
He was right about Mordret, but how did he know that? And how did he know Kai's true name? How did he know Mordret?
How did he know Sunny was a saint?
Sunny felt something creeping into his very being, and it was fear, something he rarely felt nowadays since becoming a saint.
'No, that's impossible, it can't be him,'
"No, I don't know your name," Sunny replied curtly, trying to mask his unease and make it look like his patience was wearing thin.
The man smiled widely at his words; his smile was so charming it would have convinced someone to give him their money for free.
"Of course you do. You know as well, young lady, the one who is watching through his eyes. What a wonderful net of flies you have caught in your web, Cassia. The strings you have on everyone have been such a tremendous help in assisting me in gaining ground over these past two days." The man said with a smile, looking Sunny in the eyes as he felt them subtly widen.
How the hell did he know Cassie was watching through his eyes?!
What the hell did he mean by Cassie assisting him?
'Where is Mrs.Smyrin? What's taking her so long? Is she alright?'
Strangely enough, the moment those thoughts crossed Sunny's mind, the man nodded as if he heard something no one else did.
"You're concerned about her. I get it, don't worry about your new boss, she's okay. As for what's taking her so long, well, Ms. Wendy is currently talking to someone. Rest assured, she'll be here once we finish this conversation."
How did he know he was thinking about Smyrin?!
It…it couldn't be the dreamspawn, it couldn't, h-how the hell did he get here?!
Still, Sunny tried to deny it the existence of who was standing in front of him even though the man wasn't even attempting to hide his identity anymore.
How could he deny it anymore? The man standing in front of him was the one who had been influencing his thoughts this entire time.
"Who the hell are you? What did you do?" Sunny stepped away from the counter and towards the door with a growing frown as he subtly outstretched his hand to make a weapon out of shadows.
Sunny knew he was nowhere near fast enough to attack a sovereign, let alone run away from one; he even doubted that shadow step could save him.
And the worst part was that he couldn't even be sure of himself, as he couldn't trust any of his thoughts or feelings at the moment.
"You haven't figured it out yet? I'm really disappointed, boy, but I understand you're still in shock at the world around you, so I can't blame you for being a little behind. Ah, since we'll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on, I suppose I should properly introduce myself." The man said as he turned around fully and walked back in, his smile being far too wide for Sunny's liking.
He took off his hat, then bowed, straightened, and put it back on.
His smile became more friendly, and somehow even more unsettling than before.
Feeling multiple gazes on him, Sunny glanced outside and froze.
Various people on the street had stopped in their tracks and were staring at him through the bakery's windows.
Every single one of them had the same smile as the man did. This time, Sunny couldn't suppress his shivering when they all spoke in unison.
"Asterion is the name. I can't wait to meet you face-to-face."
Yes, the latter half and ending of the chapter were absolutely inspired by the latest chapters. I couldn't help but add to this chapter with my own version of Sunny meeting Asterion.
I am deciding whether to delay the next chapter until I've read more of Lotm, as I realize I am likely getting a lot of things wrong for anyone who has read the whole book and knows everything already, or is at least much farther than I am.
I usually write as I read through chapters, so I am basically getting to know the world just as Klein is, and I'm sure that's frustrating for people who have read the full story, including the second book.
If there is no chapter next week, then you'll know what I decided on. :)
Please let me know how the pacing was for this chapter, I can't help but feel like it was too fast.