In a particular room, a pale hand flipped to a fresh page in "his" notebook, dipped "his" quill in ink, and began writing while speaking aloud.
"The young man would stand in place in the crimson moonlight, staring at his hand with fear, wondering where one of his abilities had gone. He would ask himself if the loss of his ability to manifest shadows could have been a coincidence after meeting her? Who was the woman wearing a monocle? How did she know he and his companions had arrived here? What did she mean when she said she felt a change in fate and destiny? He would think back to the woman who thanked him and wonder what she meant. Sunless would wonder if he had somehow had his fate again."
"Sunless would shake his head at the open air and immediately dismiss the thought as he knew fate no longer applied to him ever since the loathsome thieving bird stole his fate in the tomb of Ariel. So, Sunless knew he would no longer be dancing to someone's tune."
"Sunless would open his palm again in a futile attempt to manifest shadows, but to no avail. He would grow paranoid at the thought of someone else watching him and return to the temple. He would find Mordret sitting on his bed and learn that the prince knew that Sunless was the mysterious figure, Lord Shadow. The Prince of Nothing would promise Sunless that he would not tell anyone, as it wouldn't gain him anything. The warriors known as the Firekeepers would call him over, and that is when Sunless would witness a strange event."
"The next morning, Sunless would go to work and be told by Wendy Smyrin that she knew he was not from this kingdom. Therefore, she would take it upon herself to teach him about the history of Tingen City and the goddess they worship. Hours after the lesson, Sunless would feel an inexplicable sleepiness come over him, and Wendy Smyrin would tell him he could get some rest for a while, since they wouldn't be busy for the next hour. He would go to sleep and soon encounter Dunn Smith in his dreams."
"Sunless would be stunned to learn that his dream had been invaded before realizing that his dark horse was still in his world, and without him, he would be vulnerable to these things. Sunless answered the questions Dunn Smith had and was cooperative when told he would be brought to their headquarters for further questioning."
"Once they had arrived at their destination, Sunless would see Klein Moretti sitting on a couch along with Daly Simone was then interrogated by Dunn Smith with the help of Daly Simone, who would go into his mind to see if he knew anything about Asterion at the headquarters of Blackthorn Security Company, an alias for the Nighthawks."
"Daly Simone would see unexplainable things, such as Nightmare gates, unimaginable, horrible monsters called Nightmare Creatures, and a terrible bird with madness in its eyes, and would nearly scream in fright before she would suddenly forget what she witnessed and told Dunn Smith that the young man knows nothing of Asterion."
"Leonard Mitchell and Dunn Smith would accept her answer, except for Pallez Zoroast, who was hiding inside of Leonard. He would remain suspicious of the young man and tell Leonard to keep an eye on him. Dunn Smith and Daly Simone, who were unaware of Pallez's presence, ultimately decide that Sunless was not associated with the mysterious stranger named Asterion."
"Their belief in their choice would be solidified when Sunless would help them catch a wild beyonder on the loose. It turned out that the beyonder they caught was one of the worshippers of Asterion and provided valuable information for them."
"So, as a reward, Dunn Smith would offer Sunless a job as a civilian staff member, along with the chance to become a beyonder. Sunless would accept and would have to decide between the four potions that Asterion had informed him of on his first day of working in Smyrin's bakery. After a few days of self-deliberation, Sunless would narrow it down to the Corpse Collector and Sleepless."
"While this had happened, Klein Moretti, who had gotten the job as a civilian staff member, had witnessed the interrogation as Dunn Smith had asked him to. He would leave the Blackthorn security company, walk down Zouteland, and step into the luxurious clothing store. He would browse the store to look for a suit and try out a few canes provided by the clerk and then he would eventually stumble upon the man of reflections, The Fallen Prince Mordret of Valor."
"This was someone whom Klein had encountered the previous night, along with the six other strangely beautiful people. Klein would greet him with a bow. But what neither of them knew was that Mordret would also stumble upon Amon. Ignorant of his existence, Mordret, in return, would give Klein a polite smile and bow, then turn to eye the clerk, who was observing Mordret with a smile. The clerk who was actually Amon had been watching Mordret, Sunless, and everyone else who had been transported to Tingen City for the past three days."
"After learning of Mordret's abilities, Amon would come to think of Mordret as a pitiful imitation of himself, a cheap copy. Amon would know that Mordret would be attracted to the Error pathway once he learned about it. As soon as Klein became a beyonder, he would begin his acting method. After a few days, Old Neil would eventually bring Klein to the armory to learn about different Beyonders and various secret organizations."
"That is when Mordret would come to know about the Error pathway, or more specifically, the starting sequence to the pathway, Marauder, as he had intentionally dropped a pocket mirror from one of his vessels on the horse carriage. He did this as he gambled that Klein Moretti would pick up the pocket mirror and give it to Dunn Smith. Klein Moretti would be unaware that Mordret had planned his carriage ride and would be unaware that the carriage driver, along with every single passenger in the carriage, was Mordret."
"The man's actions to gather information on the pathways were driven by fear of the man he called an abomination. Mordret began planning when Asterion mentioned the pathways during his conversation with Sunless in Smyrin's bakery. But what Mordret didn't know was that things would work in his favor because of Dunn Smith and his terrible memory. Because of his memory, he would forget to drop it off at the police station. So the mirror would remain in the Nighthawks' headquarters, where Mordret would eventually learn about the Marauder potion."
"Klein Moretti would be unaware that Mordret had planned his carriage ride and would be unaware that the carriage driver, along with every single passenger in the carriage, was Mordret. Meanwhile, in the present standing in the clothing store, Mordret would be unaware that Amon thought of him as a lesser copy. No, Mordret had other things in mind. One of them would be the goal of purchasing a new suit to help not stand out."
"He would do this despite hearing the conversation that took place between Sunless and the woman wearing a monocle through the mirror he had given Sunless. Mordret was here in the clothing store, as he had accumulated more than enough money from the vessels he had taken over the past three days since he arrived here."
"He" finished speaking and dipped "his" quill in ink again, then flipped to a fresh page and wrote.
"This week will go fine."
The pale hand retracted "his" quill from the notebook, and a man with golden hair and beard stared at the notebook with childlike, innocent golden eyes. "He" wore a white robe and a silver cross around "his" neck.
"He" put the quill down softly, stared at the words that had been written, nodded, closed the notebook, and then spoke to thin air.
"In a play, scenes can always change on the fly, lines can change as well, and characters can be added and given roles despite having no part in the play or having existed in the play to begin with. In contrast, other characters can be removed without explanation. Even the script can change so that characters who were supposed to perish live on, yet the plot remains unchanged. After all, the show must go on."
***
Sunny stood in the street, bathed in the crimson moonlight, as he stared at his hand with fear. What happened to his ability? Was it that woman? Did she steal it? Who was she? No, that was impossible. Who could steal abilities from someone like that?
More importantly, how did she know that Sunny and his companions weren't from here? She said that many more beings are aware of his presence than he realizes. Was she speaking about herself? Was she one of them? Sunny didn't know, and he hated it; he had a million questions running through his mind, with not one single answer.
"She mentioned that she felt a change in destiny and fate. Does that mean I have my fate back?" Sunny asked him, then immediately shook his head.
No, it was only wishful thinking. Sunny knew the vile bird had stolen his fate, but the only silver lining was that he no longer danced to someone else's tune, not Cassie's, not anyone. Sunny began walking down the street and opened his palm in a futile attempt to manifest something, anything, but to no avail. He cursed inwardly and nearly punched a street gas lamp out of anger.
"Damnation! What should I do?"
For the first time in a long time, he was terrified. He had no idea how he got here, and he was terrified of what would happen next, what the dreamspawn would do, who else would come after him. Was someone watching him right now? Sunny quickly grew paranoid, something he had never thought would happen after becoming a saint, and yet he began walking back to the nameless temple. He didn't care that Cassis and Mordret knew he was Lord Shadow.
Minutes later, and Sunny was back at the temple, where it was now filled with quiet chatter; it seemed their conversation over the dreamspawn had ended. He shadow-stepped into the brilliant emporium, where he was met by Mordret sitting on his bed with a pleasant smile.
"My, my, welcome back, Lord Shadow. How was your walk?"
"Terrible," Sunny replied curtly.
"You know, I was surprised when the abomination called you Saint Sunless, and I was very shocked when I saw you form a blade from the shadows. The only other person who can do that here is Lord Shadow, or rather you, since you are the same person. I must ask, how is that possible?"
"I have multiple bodies. So now what? Are you going to tell everyone else? It's not like it matters anymore. Also, get the hell off my bed
"Tell everyone? No, no, no, that would gain me nothing, Sunless. After all, there are many more pressing matters. So, I will keep your secret safe, I promise." Mordret smiled politely and stood up.
Sunny frowned at Mordret, then walked downstairs into the cafe area, opened his front door, and pretended to stretch and yawn.
Nephis, who was standing near the other saints, was the first to notice him and approached him.
"Master Sunless, I hope you had a good rest,"
"I did, Lady Nephis," Sunny nodded at her with a smile.
"That is good, we are going to explore more of this city today." Nephis nodded.
He nodded and watched as she walked away, then looked over to see the firekeepers sitting in a circle, huddled around inside a makeshift camp they had made beforehand. Suddenly, one of them noticed him and then waved him over.
"Master Sunless, come sit over here with us!" one of them called out to him with a friendly smile.
Sunny watched as they shifted a bit to make room for him. Once they did, he sat down amongst them and listened silently as they made idle chatter with each other.
"You think they hold a royal ball each year? Like Valor?"
"Well, obviously, you fool, why wouldn't they?"
"Do they have animals here? I thought I saw a few rats on Tingen Street."
"Who knows?"
"What jobs would we be able to get to make money? Would even be able to find one? I mean, we technically don't even exist right now because we have no form of identification."
As they continued to chat, Sunny noticed something eerie. He noticed that some of the firekeepers began to place a crystal monocle on their right eye.
"Where did you all get those?" Sunny asked with a confused look.
"Oh, these? We got them from a man, he was so nice and handsome and kind and handsome." One of the female firekeepers told him, with a bright smile, as she sighed dreamily and placed a crystal monocle on her right eye.
'W-what the hell?'
RAHHHHH I'm finally back on this fanfic, praise the fool. If I see another monocle in my lifetime, I'm going to scream. The next chapter will be longer :)