"Divine aspect? Oh yes, most certainly." Mordret nodded.
Ki Song leaned back into her throne with a curious expression. "So there is a third divine wielder that partially explains why the boy is so arrogant. He is a vastly more valuable ally than I realized, but it does not explain why he chose to live in a death zone in the God Grave of all places. You are certain he is not a spy for Clan Valor?" The lifeless sleeper to Ki Song's left side tilted his head.
"Yes, I am. Lord Shadow has no ties to Clan Valor in any way, shape, or form, that much I have gleaned, but then again, he could just be hiding it well and playing the long game." Mordret shrugged, standing up.
"Keep a close eye on him, nothing else. That is an order from your Queen; there is nothing more for me to say. You may leave." The dead sleeper to her right spoke.
"I will gladly keep an eye on him." He smiled while bowing.
"And I will keep my eye on you, Prince Mordret. Antarctica proved that you are far too unpredictable and far too impatient." She frowned.
Ah, yes, Antarctica. It seems the Queen would never let that go.
But honestly, could Mordret really be blamed for that?
To kill his beloved sister, the very representation of Clan Valor. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, and it slipped through his fingers.
"You don't have to worry about me, your majesty, I'll be on my best behavior. Honest! I even have a shadow to keep me on my toes now!" Mordret grinned.
He switched his focus to searching for reflections to go through. He started mentally sifting through them, each appearing like a fleeting dream in his head. Once he found one that caught his interest, he disappeared into it.
Mordret appeared through the reflection of a glass vase in the middle of the busy street of food vendors. Now, he was wearing the vessel of a handsome young man with blonde hair and blue eyes, whose aspect was Ice. This vessel had an awful reputation for trafficking humans, and people called Mordret a monster. If anything, he did the world a favor by killing him and taking his body.
Looking around the busy place, seeing people throw more than a few glances his way, Mordret thought about how easy it would be to kill every single one of them in a matter of moments. Dismissing the thought with a smile, Mordret intentionally bumped into one awakened man and three mundane women, scaring the women in the process. The three women were truly all terribly mundane in every sense.
"My apologies. Are you alright? I didn't mean to startle all of you!" Mordret brushed off the man's jacket, and the man smiled in thanks.
"Oh, uh, we're fine. It happens!" One of the mundane women said with a blush.
Mordret noticed she was holding something. "Oh my! A cake! Are you having a birthday party for someone?"
"Yes, it's for my son! He's turning 10 today, and my husband and sisters are bringing him gifts later today." She gestured to the two other mundane women beside her, who were walking with her before Mordret arrived.
Mordret subtly frowned at the age. He momentarily closed his eyes and imagined the entire family slaughtered. He opened his eyes again and smiled gently.
"Well, I won't hold you all any longer, you wouldn't want to miss that party now, would you?" He cooed.
Truthfully, he had been observing this family for quite some time, mainly Garfield, the awakened husband of Rose, the mundane woman holding the cake.
Awakened Garfield had an aspect that had to do with his aim always being true so long as he believed it would hit, which made him quite the asset in taking out nightmare creatures.
The way those two looked at each other was foreign to Mordret.
It was with Love, and the same was true for their son. They had nothing but affection for the boy.
'How strange.'
No, it was not strange. It was normal for people like them, for everyone, really. Mordret was the strange one here; his emotions were shallow and sometimes downright nonexistent, and he constantly had to remind himself of that fact.
But Mordret often asked himself, could the infamous Prince of Nothing love something or someone? Could a creature like himself be capable of such a commitment? There was Seishan, but that was only a fling, which happened multiple times, with no strings attached.
It was obvious that the woman wanted it to be more than that, and she made that clear several times.
Not that he cared, it was just something he thought every once in a while to pass the time or entertain himself
He "loved" Beastie until it was killed by a random awakened boy who encountered it in the chained isles by chance. But that was only because Beastie was the closest thing he had to a friend.
Was Mordret sad?
No, he wasn't sad.
He could never be sad.
It was impossible.
It was only a reflection; he could always make another Beastie. So, no, Mordret didn't really love Beastie, but he would have loved to strangle the other.
Hate.
Aside from the fleeting emotions of pleasure, contentment, satisfaction, resentment, and contempt. Hate was the only truly consistent emotion Mordret felt.
He hated his father for selling him off to that thing.
Mordret most definitely hated the first dreamspawn.
But most of all, Mordret hated the other.
No hate was too underwhelming a word for the disdain he felt for it.
He loathed it even more than the former two cretins.
Mordret realized his thoughts were steadily turning dark and dismissed them with a smile at a person walking by.
He looked at the family, conversing with each other and occasionally with him. After all, he was still standing near them with a smile and nod occasionally. Not that he had cared to pay attention; it was all useless chatter to him.
The last time Mordret had done this was when he stole the body of awakened squire Warren before the battle of the black skull.
He went to sit on a nearby chair and smiled gently at them as they walked away.
"Wait, sir! I'm sorry, could you come here for just a moment?" Mordret called out.
"Not at all, pal, something wrong?" Awakened Garfield walked over with a smile.
Mordret smiled widely. "Yes, it feels like there is something in my eye. Could you check for me?"
"Of course!" He leaned forward.
Garfield's smile suddenly vanished. He stood there momentarily, as if something had been snuffed out. He stared into nothing with a blank expression, then smiled again after a few moments.
"No, there's nothing in your eyes!" He straightened up.
"Excellent!" Mordret smiled and walked off.
"Dear?" Rose called out.
"Sorry, honey. That young man needed help. Well, we should get going, shouldn't we?" Garfield walked over to the three women and held Rose's hand.
"I can't wait to see the look on our son's face when he sees his presents." He looked at himself in a nearby reflection and smiled widely at his wife, who smiled lovingly back.
Some time later, they arrived home, and his son crashed into him with a hug.
"Hi Daddy, Hi Aunties, Hi Mommy!" The boy hugged them one by one with a wide smile.
"Hey kiddo, I'll be right back. Don't try to peek at your presents, " Garfield said, ruffling his son's hair.
"But I wanna!" The boy whined.
"No buts! Be a good boy and listen to your father." Rose chided.
The boy huffed cutely and sat down with a pout.
Walking into the bathroom, Garfield looked into the mirror with a smile.
"Happy Birthday." He whispered to himself, then frowned.
Clearing his throat, he started again.
"Happy Birthday! Soon enough, you just might be able to beat your old man in an arm wrestle." He softly laughed to himself, then abruptly stopped.
"Perfect." He nodded.
He walked back to the living room with a bright smile.
Mordret would get to experience being a father and
husband for a while. It would undoubtedly be a pleasant experience.
Then he would see the residential shadow of Raven Heart
***
Three identical gorgeous young men and two young women wearing aprons with dark hair were in the Brilliant Emporium's kitchen. One of the young men standing near the two was teaching one of the young women how to make and cook an order properly.
The second young man stood in the corner of the kitchen with a sullen expression while his fingers danced in the air, as though he were making something no one else could see.
The last young man watched the four of them with a bright smile, as if he were just happy to be there.
At least the first young man was trying to teach her to cook, but the girl wouldn't listen!
"What are you doing, brat?! Are you trying to cut the damn potato in half?" Sunny exclaimed.
Rain looked outraged. "I'm trying to peel it like you said! But I can't do that when you're breathing down my neck, hounding me for every mistake!"
"I ask you to do one simple thing, and you complain. Honestly, what do I even pay you for?" Sunny scoffed.
"You don't pay me at all!" Rain cried out.
"I know. With that attitude, I certainly won't be anytime soon!" Sunny pointed a finger at her, which Rain smacked away.
"Why did I have to get a cheap scoundrel teacher?" Rain grumbled to herself.
"What was that?" Sunny eyed her.
"Nothing!"
"That's what I thought now, keep peeling like I taught you." Sunny moved around the kitchen to Aiko.
His greedy assistant eyed him wearily. "Boss, where is my raise? I don't get paid enough to babysit and help you cook!"
"I pay you with wisdom and humor. Plus, you already get enough money," Sunny grinned.
"You can take your wisdom and humor and shove it up your ass!" She poked him in the chest.
"Oh? You said you wanted a paycheck reduction?" Sunny watched in satisfaction as Aiko retracted her statement.
"No, Boss. I love you, boss. You know this!" she said frantically.
"I'm sure you do, Aiko." He shook his head.
Sunny unexpectedly felt a shadow full of confidence heading to the Brilliant Emporium. He immediately knew who it was and couldn't help but slightly smile at how much Lonesome Howl reminded him of Effie.
Ah, he missed the beanpole showing up at his emporium, even if all she did was ogle at him whenever she was there.
Shaking away his short nostalgic trip, Sunny nodded in his little sister's direction. His happy shadow walked over to Rain with a bright smile and watched her start to cook while Gloomy silently sighed at his younger brother's enthusiasm. Sunny let out an amused chuckle at their antics and headed out of the kitchen.
Just in time for the boisterous Princess to walk inside, she locked eyes with him and gave a broad grin while making great strides towards him. Soon enough, Lonesome Howl towered over him, her toned arms crossed over her chest, eyes full of cocky confidence, and a now playful smile on her handsome face. She leaned her head down an infuriating amount to look at Sunny.
"Master Sunless! It's good to see your pretty face again!" She laughed, giving Sunny a firm pat on the shoulder.
Pretending to wobble at the impact, Sunny smiled. "It's good to see you as well, Princess Lonesome Howl."
"How many times do I have to tell you? Just call me Howl, you're not a stranger anymore, Master Sunless, you're our purveyor now, and I require a new memory if you're not busy." She moved to sit down at a table.
"Unfortunately, I will be busy today, but if you could tell me what particular memory you want, then I will be sure to start on it as soon as possible." He sat down across from her.
"That's fine with me!" She began listing the details.
***
Hours had passed, and Sunny was standing in a dark alleyway. He was in the waking world, bored out of his mind, waiting for an individual.
That is, until he heard light footsteps approaching his position. Once they were in the alleyway, the footsteps stopped. He watched them "look around." He never truly understood why Cassie did that. Perhaps it was to make people feel more comfortable?
'Ah, no use in overthinking it.'
"Sunny? Are you here?"
"Yes, I'm here, but why are you asking me when you have been looking through my eyes this entire time?" He approached her while summoning the mask he had been working on in the Emporium earlier today.
Sunny called it. "Hiding in plain sight." Aiko disapproved of it, calling his naming sense awful, but what did she know about naming things?
Nothing! That's what.
He heard Cassie cough. "Sorry, it's just out of habit. Come, let's go." She started walking, motioning for him to follow.
As they walked down the streets of NQSC, people stared at her in admiration and hope, and at Sunny with fear and confusion.
"Who is that with Lady Cassia?"
"I don't know? It could be her echo?"
"Shhh! He's likely a saint and can hear you, idiot!"
"Don't tell me to be quiet, you have eyes, don't you? Look at him! He's terrifying!"
"You fool! Lady Song of the Fallen is right there! Don't mention being able to see! That's insulting to her!"
Sunny listened to their whispers in amusement, and Cassie did as well, for she had a slight smile on her face.
Eventually, they reached a government building and walked inside. Cassie expertly guided him through the building, leading him to a door where he felt several presences behind it.
Cassie opened it, and Sunny was met with calm gray eyes assessing him, ice blue eyes staring at him with interest, electric green eyes accompanied by a now pale face, and brown, slightly widened eyes.
"Lord Shadow, you already know who I am. Nightingale has told me much about you. It is nice to make your acquaintance finally."
Sunny numbly nodded, making sure to keep his voice emotionless. "Indeed, we have much to discuss, Princess Changing Star. After all, it's not every day that you hear someone wants to kill a couple of supreme beings.
"You are in luck, though. I have killed a supreme being once before, so it shouldn't be too hard to do it again." He shrugged, looking at the paintings around the room.
Sunny smiled when he heard someone fall from their chair.
This was going to be a long day. But who said he couldn't find fun in this?