"So he's bribing this Seishan woman to feed him information on when that hunchback is going to be sent after his him, and he has the insurance to make sure this is correct?"
Nephis gave Sunny a weird look. She must have thought Kallen was crazy, and Sunny crazy by default for going along with it.
"Mhm, yes." Sunny said. "And he wants me to help him kill Harus."
To Nephis's left, both Cassie and Seren looked nervous, both likely for completely different reasons.
"And what happens after that? Surely Gunlaug wouldn't just sit around if the two of you were able to kill his executioner." Nephis frowned, and shook her head slightly. "I don't like it just being the two of you against that monster."
Sunny shrugged. "I'm confident I can escape if things go bad… not that I intend to let that idiot get himself killed. The fact is, he's probably our best shot at taking down Gunlaug. After we take care of Harus, me and him will go to the Bright Lord personally and… well he swore me to secrecy, so I probably shouldn't mention his plan. If it leaked, me and him would be dead before the night is over."
"Do you trust him?" Cassie asked, suddenly. She hadn't spoken yet, but Sunny knew how she felt about Kallen… she didn't seem to like him. Not one bit.
Sunny gave her a placating smile, and said, "I do. At least a little."
She frowned, but did not argue. Instead, Nephis spoke. "I still think it should be me that kills Gunlaug. But I do concede that it would probably be best if Kallen did it." She paused for a moment, glancing at Cassie, and then at Seren. "Cassie did tell me that she saw a vision of Kallen killing him and taking his armor. While I don't think we should trust completely in the validity of those visions… the fact is, it's essentially all we have for now."
"Then what happens after Kallen becomes Bright Lord?" Sunny asked. He folded his arms. "What changes, do we just gather all the Sleepers in the castle and assault the spire?"
Nephis shook her head, but he could see a spark light beneath those eyes of hers. "Not immediately. We would need time to expand our influence—I am already working on my part of that, and Kallen, Caster, and Effie have already earned a considerable reputation among the general populous."
No one said anything, considering Nephis's words. And then she spoke again, "Besides, I figured something out. We might have to leave for some time, but it should be worth it in the end."
Sunny looked around, realizing that no one present actually knew what she was talking about.
"The last shard Memory, as well as the remains of the first Bright Lord… I think we've found it."
~~~
Kallen stood before a tall young man. He had a laid back attitude and a friendly smile. He was charismatic, and a decent person at times. It was Gemma, the leader of the hunters and pathfinders. And he was bestowing upon Kallen orders for a suicide mission, straight from the Lord of the Bright Castle himself.
Gemma smiled. "Your squads efficiency has impressed our lord. He has an important task for you." He pulled something out of his pocket, unfurling it to show a crude map of the Forgotten Shore. He pointed to the cyclopean crimson spire. "There was something the Bright Lord noticed on one of his adventures into the dark sea in the earlier days of his reign. Some sort of cave full of riches. He wants you to scout the place out, figure out what's guarding it as well."
"Of course." Kallen gave a shallow bow.
Gemma continued. "You'll set out tomorrow. You may take a Sleeper with a water related attribute if you would like, but the Bright Lord would prefer that you go alone due to the danger the Dark Sea presents."
"Then I will travel alone," Kallen said, playing the part of dutiful Hunter. Truthfully, this was bad news. Gunlaug was probably trying to get him killed without risking his famed executioner. That might have meant that the Bright Lord was more wary of Kallen than they'd thought. Or it could have meant something entirely different.
But as Kallen began to leave for his quarters, he suspected the former was true.
~~~
Kallen strolled through the Bright castle, a subtle nervousness eating away at him. Gunlaug sending him on suicide missions was worst case scenerio for him.
Assassins were fine. The handmaidens he was paying off would warn him—and he had Sunny's help with that. But a mission into dangerous territory was bad.
Kallen couldn't outright refuse the order. He'd tried to think of a way around it, but couldn't do that either. He and Sunny needed to deal with Harus when he was alone, and then Gunlaug in a way that involved him giving up his armor.
There was a solid plan in place for that part, but it depended on Harus being out of the equation first. And for him to be gone, Kallen and Sunny needed to ambush him. Kallen's boots echoed as he walked through the Bright Castle's torchlit halls, his mind still churning through plans.
A shout suddenly snapped him from his thoughts.
Around the corner of the next corridor, a hunter had a young man pinned against the wall, his lamellar armor askew. The victim's auburn hair gleamed int he firelight, his green eyes wide with defiance rather than fear.
"—think your pretty face'll save ya, asshole?" The Hunter sneered, pressing a dagger to the auburn haired boy's throat. "I said hand over the damn shards, or I'll carve a new smile—"
"Hunter." Kallen's voice cut sharply.
The man froze, then turned and assessed the newcomer. "Ah… I didn't see you there." His gaze flicked to the man he was haggling, then back to Kallen.
"I'd appreciate if you didn't harass one of my good friends," Kallen said.
The Hunter looked like he was ready to object, but he didn't. He just grunted and shoved the young man aside, stalking off and muttering something—probably derogatory towards Kallen.
Meanwhile, the pretty looking stranger straightened the tunic beneath his armor, flashing Kallen a warm and grateful smile.
That guy is seriously attractive, Kallen thought for a brief moment. It's kind of aggravating me.
"Thanks for that, man." The stranger said. His voice was both melodic and effortless. Kallen thought he recognized it, but he wasn't entirely sure. "I seriously owe you one."
Kallen shrugged. "Don't mention it." He turned to leave.
"Wait." The boy extended a hand. "I'm Kai."
Ignoring Ariel whispering Kai's deepest fears, something prickled at Kallen's memory and he frowned at the boy. Then he froze.
Electric green eyes, perfect auburn hair, flawless features.
Kai recognized the gears turning in Kallen's head and turned a bit sheepish. "Ah. you must recognize me, don't you."
Kallen stared dumbfounded for a moment. Then, "You're Night, aren't you?" He leaned in. "The singer… you are. My sister's room is plastered with your posters."
Kai smiled, visibly embarrassed.
"I heard that you'd been missing from the public scene for a while…" several things suddenly made sense to Kallen. "It's because you've been stuck here. Isn't it?"
The idol nodded. "That would be correct. Yes."
Kallen took a step forward, an idea flourishing in his mind. "You said you owed me one, didn't you?"
Again, the idol nodded, uncomfortable from Kallen's sudden change in demeanor. "I did."
"My little sister's birthday is next week, she's turning thirteen. Could you maybe introduce yourself to her? I'd even consider myself in your debt if you would."
Kai blinked. "You want me to… what? I guess I wouldn't mind… but I don't think we're making it back to the waking world any time soon."
"She's actually here…" Kallen said. Kai's face immediately fell, becoming more solemn, but not diminishing the casual attractiveness. In all honesty, he was probably the prettiest Sleeper Kallen had ever seen. It was kind of hard to focus. "You're her favorite Idol."
His perfect eyebrows shot up. "Your sister is here? In this place?" His voice cracked slightly. "Gods she's just a kid…"
"She shouldn't be. None of us should." The torchlight flickered in the distance. Kallen glanced at it, then back to Kai. "But since we are…. Will you do it?"
For a long moment, Kai studied Kallen's face. He looked at the hollows under his eyes, the tension in his shoulders and neck. Then his celebrity smile softened into something more genuine. "Of course I would. It's a small price."
"She's actually not here in the Bright Castle though," Kallen said, suddenly realizing that getting this meeting to happen might be harder than he thought. "She's in the outer settlement because…"
Kallen stopped himself. Now that he thought about it, it made him look pretty bad that he was hiding in the safety of the walls while his sister was in the outer settlement. But she was actually safer in the outer settlement… of course, Kai didn't know that.
"Uhm… I know that sounds bad, but I have some powerful enemies in here, so I left her in equally powerful company. I promise I'm not some terrible person or anything…"
Kai laughed. "Yeah… I suppose that does sound pretty bad, but its alright, I know you're telling the truth. It's actually my flaw, I know when people are lying to me."
"Oh."
"Do you perhaps have an aspect that would allow you to escape with me from the castle unseen?" Kallen asked.
Kai shook his head. "No, no I do not."
"Hmm." Kallen thought for a moment. "What is your aspect then, if you don't mind me asking."
"My ability lets me fly."
It only took a moment before Kallen came to a solid idea.
If he can fly, then I could use him for the mission. Then, I can send Mira or someone else to report to Gemma that I'm taking an unaffiliated Sleeper with me to help me get to the Crimson Spire easier. On the way, we can stop by the outer settlement and Seren can meet Kai there. That works out because I should let Sunny and Nephis know about my voyage as well, but if I had to take a pathfinder through the dark city and a team of hunters to protect that pathfinder on the way back, I wouldn't have had any time to go debrief them on what was happening.
"Okay, I have a good plan."
~~~
"Wait wait wait," Kai said. Kallen held onto the idol's hand for dear life, his feet dangling a few hundred feet in the air. "Why is the Bright Lord sending you to the Spire? Isn't that usually like… a one way trip?"
"He is afraid of failure, shame, loneliness, regret…" Like always, Kallen tuned out the whispers.
"Officially, he wants me to check out some cave that might house a trove of soul shards." Kallen swallowed hard, looking down briefly before looking back up, clenching his jaw. His hair was tousled wildly by the wind. "Unofficially, the Bright Lord wants me gone."
"He's afraid that he might have gotten himself involved with someone dangerous."
"And… uh, you're just going to walk right into this?" Kai asked.
"What choice do I have?" Kallen had to speak up so that the man could hear him over the rushing of wind. "But if you could… keep Seren distracted for a little bit. I don't intend to die, but this mission will probably be dangerous."
The idol sighed, dipping a little as they saw the rock formation Kallen had pointed out as the location of Nephis's place. "Can't you just, you know, go through with the mission, but do it very poorly? Pretend you're going to this cave place, but never actually get there and never put yourself in danger?"
"I could, but I imagine I will be forced to debrief the mission. If I lie about my intent… well I don't know what would happen, but I imagine he has a way to detect lies. A Memory or something."
Kai chewed on what Kallen said.
Plus, Kallen thought. I'm more than a little curious about that place myself.
Soon, they touched down just a bit outside where Nephis's place was. There were probably spies around here somewhere, but Gunlaug didn't feel too much threatened by Nephis and her smaller sphere of influence.
Plus, Kallen had intentionally let himself be seen talking to them to raise suspicion of himself. Really, Kai was the only one who probably shouldn't be seen with them, but the man did owe Kallen a favor.
When Kallen's boots met the ground, Kai hovered for just a moment, his stupidly attractive hair perfectly falling into place when he lowered himself.
Kai took a deep sighing breath and sent Kallen a sideward look. "So, the Bright Lord really wants you dead?"
"Mhm." Kallen nodded.
"Pray tell… why exactly does he want you dead?"
"Because I am plotting to kill him. And he knows it."
Kai's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. The two of them walked for a few beats, and then he said, "Have I accidentally gotten myself involved with someone dangerous."
Kallen laughed. "Yes. I do believe you have. Several dangerous people, in fact."
"You'll still be in my debt after this is over, right? You weren't lying when you said so before…. Even though I'm doing this as a favor for you saving my skin?"
"Naturally," Kallen said.
"Does you protecting me from the danger that being associated with you brings pay off that debt?"
Kallen gave a wide smile. "Naturally."
"Am I actually in a worse position than I was if you'd just let me be robbed by the hunter?"
"Of course not," Kallen said, striding forward and opening the flap into Nephis's home. "You get to be one of my most trusted allies if this all goes well."
"I'm flattered."