Sunny's eyes widened despite already knowing who he was. The people outside suddenly moved again and went about their business as if nothing had happened, and Asterion's vessel closed the door with a smile.
Sunny couldn't help but tremble as he was going to die here. He knew he was.
Having read his thoughts, the older man's smile became gentle as he walked towards Sunny again.
"Now, now, calm down, you're not going to die here, young man. I'm not a monster, well, I can't say I'm a human either, and if I wanted to kill you, I would have done so when we met at the clothes store. Never mind that, though. I only want to tell you, Song of the Fallen and Mordret, who is currently listening through the mirror shard in your pocket, a few things to help you all."
"If you choose to become a beyonder, you will start from sequence nine. Everyone will: Mordret, little Nephis, Song of the Fallen, Nightingale, all of Ki Song's adopted daughters." Asterion pulled a chair from a table, sat in front of the register with a sigh, then continued.
"There is no way to cheat advancing sequences if you try to or try to consume multiple potions, then you'll lose control and go mad at best or turn into a rampager at worst. Oh, and you have to join a church. It would be best to join the Nighthawks; there are only six of them in Tingen city as of right now."
"They are mostly made of the darkness pathway with abilities similar to your dark horse. The Nighthawks work undercover in various law enforcement roles." The Dreamspawn paused and glanced to see if Sunny was still paying attention, and continued speaking.
The Dreamspawn knew about his horse Nightmare. How much did he know?!
"That man you met earlier, Dunn Smith, is part of them, more specifically, he is the captain. Once you join them, you will be part of the church of the evernight goddess and will have to earn your keep to choose a pathway. There are four potions available to you: sleepless, mystery pryer, corpse collector, and finally seer."
"Why are you telling me this, dreamspawn? Why are you helping me? What do you gain from this?" Sunny asked as shadows flowed into his hand, forming an odachi and pointing at him. He looked down and noticed his hand was trembling.
What was this man's goal? It didn't make any sense. Why not kill him?
Asterion ignored him and continued speaking without missing a beat.
"While you can become a beyonder without a church backing you up, it is risky, as you will be considered what is called a wild beyonder. Oh, and unlike awakened beings like ourselves, who can withstand a building falling on top of us at the very least. The people here cannot, as these beyonders are much more pathetic and are prone to dying from something as simple as a firearm, so do what you will with that information. I have no idea what becoming a beyonder will do to your aspect or mine, since it comes from our souls, so do be cautious of that."
"Why don't you take the shadow god lineage now and be done with it? That's what you want, right?" Sunny asked, gripping his odachi tighter.
"You must think I'm stupid, don't you, boy? You think I don't know you have a part of Weaver's lineage?" The dreamspawn frowned and scoffed at his words; luckily, they were rhetorical questions.
'What?'
"And I know you don't have the shadow god lineage because the only one who can have multiple lineages is myself."
'M-multiple lineages?! T-That's impossible!'
Then again, Sunny was known to do the impossible and see it. Was this how Kai and other people felt when Sunny told them truths all the time and expected them to believe him? Still, having multiple lineages was unheard of; it was unnatural. But so were Sunny, Mordret, and Nephis, as they would be considered less human due to their divine aspects and multiple cores.
In fact, that bastard Mordret wasn't a human, not in the slightest; he was a monster with no remorse for his actions, wearing human skin.
The Dreamspawn suddenly laughed.
"Impossible? Unnatural? Says one of the three divine aspect wielders with multiple cores, and you're saying it's impossible? But yes, you're right, all three of you are less human because of your aspects. What kind of being has multiple cores? That's right, a nightmare creature. And Little Nephis is a dreamspawn just like me, belonging to neither world nor their kin."
"She's nothing like you," Sunny spat out with venom in his voice.
"Ah, never mind that, we'll save that conversation for another time. I will see you again very, very soon, Sunless. Also, I wouldn't count on us being able to have such pleasant conversations like this all the time." He took off his hat, stood up, and bowed before his vessel suddenly went slack and fell onto the floor with a heavy thud.
This whole time, he knew he had been watching Sunny, or did he go into his memories? If that was the case, then how much did he know?
No, he couldn't have been like Cassie, right?
From what Sunny gathered, Aster- The dreamspawn could control emotions, as he did with Sunny's growing dread, and replaced it with happiness. He could sense emotions as he felt concern for Mrs. Smyrin. The Dreamspawn could control thoughts, and he tried to persuade Sunny's thoughts to tell him where the shadow god lineage was, despite knowing that Sunny didn't have it. The Dreamspawn could also obviously read minds, as he clearly displayed multiple times.
And yet he didn't fully take over Sunny's thoughts, even though he very well could have at any point, as despite Sunny's high mental defenses, they were likely futile against a sovereign. Which only meant that he was toying with Sunny the entire time. Not to mention, Sunny had no idea which one of the abilities Asterion had used on him was his dormant, awakened, and ascended. Let alone his transformation or what his domain really was, aside from the vague description Mordret gave to Sunny in the tomb of oblivion, with it being Asterion's domain was more of an idea.
'G-Gods'
Sunny trembled in place and leaned against the counter, letting out a trembling breath from being suffocated by the man's presence. He quickly composed himself when he saw the man on the floor jolt awake.
"Huh? Where am I? W-who are you?" The man asked, eyes wide with confusion, then stood up and looked around.
"You're in Smyrin's bakery on Tingen Street, and I'm Sunless. Can you tell me your name?"
"It's William," He said, his tone becoming more confident and self-assured as he stole a glance at Sunny again with wide eyes.
Of course, the dreamspawn lied about his vessel's name,
"Do you remember how you got here?"
"No, all I remember is meeting a man wearing a strange white suit a couple of days ago, I've never seen anything like it before, and then I must've passed out because I don't remember anything that transpired after that or how I got here." The man held his head, looking dazed as he picked up his hat.
'A spacesuit,'
It made sense, considering Asterion had mentioned he had been trapped on the moon for the past two decades by Anvil and Ki Song.
Not to mention, this poor man didn't know who Sunny was in the first place, or how he got here, meaning the dreamspawn had been controlling and posing as William from the moment he approached Sunny.
"I see, be careful on your way back,"
"Thank you." As soon as the man left and closed the door behind him, it immediately opened again, and Klein walked in, startling Sunny. He had been so distracted with Asterion that he forgot about him.
'Come back,' He commanded gloomy, and his eldest shadow let out a silent huff before he slipped from Klein's shadow back into Sunny's as he forced a smile and clasped his hands behind his back. He watched as the young man approached him, and his eyes widened in recognition.
Klein had decided to grab a quick snack before going to tell Dunn Smith about his decision to become a Civilian staff member and expected to make conversation with Wendy, so he was shocked to see the young man from last night standing behind the counter, smiling and wearing an apron.
"Oh! It's you again. I didn't know you worked here. May I ask where Wendy is, Mr…?" Klein watched as the young man took a step back and bowed.
"Sunless, most people call me Sunny. I just started today. As for Mrs. Smyrin, she'll be here shortly… Mr?" Sunless said with a smile, one that Klein returned, but he did find it odd that Sunless didn't tell his last name.
Maybe he's royalty and doesn't want anyone to know?
Klein wouldn't be surprised if he were. He certainly had the looks for it!
"Klein Moretti," He took off his hat and slightly bowed, then straightened with a smile.
"It's nice to meet you properly, Mr. Moretti. What can I do for you?" The young man smiled politely, but he seemed a bit pale, well, more pale than he naturally was.
"Likewise, I would like one lemon cake, but before you get to that, I must ask, are you alright? You seem a bit shaken up." Klein asked with a look of concern as he handed him two pennies.
Meanwhile, Sunny himself had been silently grateful that he had taken the liberty of learning about this kingdom's currency by opening the cash register and becoming familiar with it while he was setting up to open the bakery.
"I've been better, before you arrived, I encountered someone I didn't expect to see here, and he caught me by surprise." Sunny let out a laugh and took the money out of his hand, then momentarily entered the kitchen to make a fresh lemon cake. Sunny came back out and handed it to Klein with a polite smile.
"Well, I'd like to stay longer to have a proper chat, but I have to get going. Have a wonderful day, Sunless." Klein took off his half-top hat again with a smile, bowed, then straightened, opened the door, carried his lemon cake in his hand, and closed the door behind him. But before he entirely left, Sunny called out to him.
"Wait!"
The door opened again, and Klein walked back, looking confused. "Yes?"
"Do you know where I can buy a cane along with a hat?"
"No, I don't, but I will be sure to let you know when I do and tell you where the place is next time I come here,"
"Thank you kindly, Asterion," Sunny nodded,
Klein stared at him for a few seconds with a strange look on his face before nodding.
"You're welcome, but my name is Klein."
"That's what I said, though," Sunny said with a confused look on his face.
"No, you didn't," Klein slowly shook his head.
What was this guy talking about?
"My apologies then, have a good day,"
After the conversation ended and Klein left the bakery, since then two hours had passed, and a few customers had shown up. More importantly, though, Mrs. Smyrin had finally arrived.
"Hello, young man, I take it everything has been well so far on your first day?"
"It could have been a lot better, but overall, yes, I'd say things have been going well."
"Good to hear, have a lemon cake, since you clearly didn't think to bring lunch." She smiled knowingly and went into the kitchen, where Sunny followed with a sheepish smile.
After he grabbed a lemon cake, he ate in silence for a few minutes until he was interrupted when the door creaked open. A mundane but still beautiful young woman who looked to be around the same age as Sunny poked her head in. She had brown hair, light brown eyes, and an easygoing smile plastered across her face. The woman wore a long light green dress with beautiful laces on her chest, sleeves and collar.
She looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on him and became wide as plates. She regarded him for a while before fully stepping inside with her back intentionally facing him as if he wasn't there, while she inspected the shelves.
"I think this was the place Captain said had delicious pastries, but he failed to mention that the street was so far!" the woman complained to herself.
The walk only took Sunny three minutes; then again, he was a saint, so three minutes for him likely took her fifteen as she was only a mundane human.
"Excuse me, is there anything in particular you're looking for?" Sunny asked in a polite tone.
The young woman froze in place before she continued to speak as if she hadn't heard him. "This had better be worth it, walking here took up some of my lunch time. Especially when I already packed my own lunch!"
Sunny's left eye twitched as he stared at her with a growing frown and watched her continue to pretend he wasn't there. He was glad someone else came in, as he could take his mind off the arrival of the dreamspawn.
"Miss? I'm sure I can recommend something to you, if you'll let me, that is." His smile became more forced.
"Oh, hello! I didn't see you there." She finally turned around and gave Sunny a sweet smile.
'Damn liar,'
"It's alright, miss…?"
"Rozanne Adelaide," she said with a grin and held out her hand, which Sunny shook.
"Tell me, do you have anything in mind that you'd like to order?" Sunny asked, trying to maintain his polite smile.
"No, I don't, I was hoping you'd recommend me something like you said a moment ago,"
"Well, this is my first day, so I'm not familiar with everything yet,"
"Then why did you say you could?" The young woman pouted.
"To grab your attention," Sunny shrugged, making the woman huff.
"You can't go around tricking people like that! It could put a bad name on this place! Luckily, since I am a forgiving young woman, I will let it pass, only because I am too exhausted to discuss it further. These pastries look amazing, though." Rozanne rambled cheerfully.
She was… talkative. This was going to be a long shift.
***
After his eight-hour shift, Sunny left the bakery and looked at the afternoon sun shining through the windows, then said goodbye to Mrs. Smyrin before he opened the door and began walking down the street. Sunny took great care to see if anyone was staring at him too intently. Well, of course, everyone was, as he had the looks of a saint, but still, luckily, no one suddenly approached as he made his way back to the temple. Even then, he was still hesitating.
Never in his life did he think he would be wary again of mundane people walking down the street; the only other times Sunny had to look over his shoulder were with Mordret, back when he was a mundane. But what for?
The Dreamspawn already knew where everyone was, and he could hijack any random person on the street to talk to or kill, Cassie, Nephis, the song sisters, or anyone in the nameless temple. Speaking of sisters, he was fortunate enough that his avatars had no range limit on controlling them; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to know if his little sister was okay.
Luckily, she was fine and was currently walking back to Raven Heart guided by her mysterious 'teacher'as they made conversation. Well, it was primarily Sunny talking while Rain dismissed him with scoffs and eyerolls.
***
Revel stood in the corner of the nameless temple and shifted uncomfortably in the new clothes Nightingale had bought for her yesterday with the money of a generous stranger. The man even bought more clothes for her and everyone else to last them the rest of the week, since they could no longer rely on their memories. Right now, Revel wore a dark grey shirt and dark pants.
She could have worn a skirt, but Revel despised those things with a passion, and because she was used to wearing sweatpants back in the underground caves of Raven Heart whenever she wasn't on missions.
Revel observed everyone returning from exploring Tingen Street and another place called Iron Cross Street, each with a different expression. As it turned out, Iron Cross Street was where Master Sunless got his job, and he was currently working at a bakery.
They learned that when they went to Tingen Street in hopes of coming across him on his shift and possibly getting free food when they realized he was somewhere called Iron Cross Street.
"Are you comfortable in this era?" Lord Shadow appeared beside her from who knows where.
"What? No, why?" Revel frowned, not knowing where he was going with this.
"I just thought you would because I figured it was close to when you were born." Lord Shadow shrugged nonchalantly.
"Shut the hell up! I'm only 36!" Revel hissed angrily and sent a death glare at him.
"If you say so, Auntie," Lord Shadow said in a tone that suspiciously sounded like he was trying not to laugh. But that couldn't be right. The same couldn't be said for Howl, though, who was barking with laughter.
"Do you want to die?" Revel sneered.
"No, been there, done that," Lord Shadow shook his head at her.
"Well, since you're used to it, what's another time?"
"I'd rather not," Lord Shadow responded quickly,
"You know she's hoping to find a library so she can read spicy romance," Howl interjected with a grin.
"What's spicy romance?" Changing Star asked, looking confused, until a female firekeeper stood on her toes and leaned in, then whispered in her ear.
"Oh my," Changing Star whispered after the explanation. Despite there being barely any light in the temple, if one looked close enough, they would see that her cheeks slowly turned pink.
The atmosphere was ruined when Master Sunless walked into the temple with an uneasy expression.
"Master Sunless, welcome back. How was your day?" Eunbin smiled at him and pushed a few strands of hair out of her face with an irritated expression.
"Hello, Saint Beastmaster, it was well." Master Sunless forced a smile and nodded.
"Are you sure? You seem frightened," Her sister stepped closer.
"That is because the abomination, the first dreamspawn, is here," The Prince of Nothing approached them with a dark expression.
The next chapter will be out later this week :).