For the past four months, since Sunny had moved to Ravenheart, Cassie liked to watch the conversations between the song sisters and Sunny whenever she wasn't busy with anything, which was never.
So really, she was just procrastinating, but who could blame her when she had a first-row seat to such entertainment? She especially loved watching the interactions between Sunny and Mordret, as well as between Sunny and Kai.
But what Cassie loved watching most was the slow burn between Beastmaster and Sunny. The things Sunny said, though, always made her get up from her desk and either palm her forehead at his words or make her laugh out loud. Most especially when Sunny told Beastmaster that he slept with Effie. Cassie had nearly choked on her popcorn when he said that to the enchantress.
Cassie leaned back in her chair and watched as Deathsinger got up and then shrugged.
"Because why not? It's not fair that you get to have such a beautiful man like that and not do anything with him. The world is far too cruel for a young woman like me."
Revel rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"You're 34 years old, Hel."
Lonesome Howl suddenly stopped smiling and shook her head as she actually took the time to process what her sister just said.
"Wait, wait, wait! What the hell do you mean they're your birth parents?! Hello?! Is no one going to question why the hell Bin just dropped a bombshell like that and not elaborate?!"
The other song sisters nodded in agreement.
"Yeah! We were so caught up in the moment that we didn't bother to question it. What the hell, Bin?"
Beastmaster pointed at Sunny.
"I learned it from Sunny. I've been spending too much time around him; he's been a bad influence."
Sunny pointed at himself with wide eyes.
"Me? Why am I being brought into this?"
Beastmaster shrugged.
"Because you do it all the time, also, why haven't you wiped off my lipstick yet?"
"Because I haven't had the chance to! I wasn't expecting your sisters to be here."
Lonesome Howl put up her hand.
"I don't care who it was! The better question is: When did you find them? How did you find them? How were your parents alive when you told us they were dead? Did they fake their deaths because they didn't want you? Are we going to have to beat your parents up for abandoning you?"
Beastmaster frowned and shook her head
"What? No, no! Slow down! I'll tell you everything."
Nyx walked up to Sunny and smiled at him.
"Hey, Sunless, after Bin is done, let's get out of here. We can go back to my room, and I can show you around."
Deathsinger frowned.
"You're not taking him anywhere, sister, at least until I've had my turn."
Cassie nearly choked on her popcorn and went into a coughing fit.
"What the hell?! Does this woman have absolutely no shame?"
Beastmaster scowled.
"Nobody is taking him anywhere."
Comedic Timing smiled.
"You all want to hear another joke?"
The entire room answered in unison.
"No!"
Cassie laughed, then stopped when she heard footsteps approaching her office. She put the popcorn bucket under her desk, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and rubbed her hands on a napkin. She straightened up just in time for the person to knock on the door and a polite voice to speak.
It was the steward of Valor, Sebastian.
"Miss Cassia? May I come in?"
Cassie cleared her throat and nodded.
"Yes, you may."
The door immediately opened, revealing a dignified older man in a well-tailored vermillion livery, with neatly combed gray hair and a stoic expression. The butler stepped in along with a young woman wearing a vermillion cloak. Sebastian closed the door behind them and walked into the room, followed by the young woman. They both bowed.
"I hope I did not interrupt anything, my lady. I will not ask why I smell popcorn here."
Cassie struggled to maintain a calm expression, almost smiling.
"No, you didn't, how can I help you?"
The older man stepped closer and gestured for the young woman to do the same.
"My apprentice and I would like to exchange a few words with you, privately, if I may add, my lady,"
Cassie nodded, summoned several soundproof memories, and gestured for him to speak. The older man nodded, and Cassie watched through the eyes of the young woman as they both reached into their pockets and placed a crystal monocle on their right eye.
Cassie nearly jumped out of her chair at the sight as she recalled the conversation Sunny had with Mordret and how the prince of nothing said he would start buying monocles for his vessels. But she didn't think he was being serious!
"How did you get here?"
Mordret adjusted his monocle with a smile and stepped forward, standing before her desk.
"Hello, Cassia, I hope I didn't scare you,"
Cassie almost shook in rage.
"You didn't answer my question, and you… you killed Sebastian."
She had grown to like the butler and the young woman.
Mordret raised an eyebrow, then laughed.
"What? No, no, I only killed this young lady here; that old man is in the waking world right now with his grandchildren."
Cassie frowned.
"You must think I'm a fool, don't you? You're lying,"
Mordret smiled, and Sebastian's body slowly began to show cracks, like a mirror, until it nearly shattered like glass. Then it slowly transformed into a beautiful man with black hair and silver eyes wearing a simple black suit. He smiled pleasantly at her stunned reaction.
"I don't tell you and your friends everything I can do with my reflections, you know? That would be careless of me. As for how I can do this, you know how my reflections are walking mirrors, right? So just like how I can control them, and make reflections of myself like how I did in the throne room, I can also change my reflections into me while keeping their aspect, it's neat, isn't it?"
Cassie's eyes widened under her blindfold at the information.
"How many are in hiding?"
Mordret shrugged.
"Just this one, to answer your earlier question, I've been here since I infiltrated Valor posing as this young lady here."
That was impossible. How did she not notice? Cassie didn't believe that the prince of nothing only had one reflection here and asked.
"When did you manage to put a reflection here?"
Mordret smiled and pulled up a chair to her desk, then sat down as his vessel moved to stand beside her desk so that Cassie could see him properly.
"After I contacted you through the mirror and told you that I would assist you and Sunless with the mirror maze. It's less than a month, by the way. I hope you're ready, Cassia. The children of Mirage can be terrifying once they gain self-awareness, because then there is no telling whether they are reflections or not, and even if you do, there is no way of knowing how strong they are.
"Children of Mirage?"
Mordret elaborated.
"Yes, or 'The others' as you all call them, I will tell you more once we make it to the hall of imagination."
"Why are you helping us with the mirror maze in the first place?"
Mordret raised an eyebrow.
"You know why, Cassia,"
Cassie smiled darkly and nodded.
"Because you're scared of the dreamspawn,"
Mordret's smile slowly faded, replaced by an emotionless expression.
"If you're smart and I know you are, Cassia, then you should be too. As I said in the meeting, no amount of preparation or knowledge of him will prepare you for the arrival of that abomination. He will come for you first."
Cassie answered, her voice full of defiance.
"I'm not afraid,"
Mordret shook his head with a sigh.
"Then you are more foolish than I thought, Song of the Fallen. I know that you can no longer see the future, but can the most trusted seer of Valor not see this coming from a kilometer away? Well, no, I suppose you can't because you're blind, how terrible."
How did this monster know that Cassie didn't have visions of the future anymore? How long had he been watching her?
"Are you done talking?"
Mordret shook his head again and moved his vessel beside Cassie so that she could fully see him as he glanced at the door.
"No, I'm not, the skinwalker is now a great devil, it was only a great demon a month ago. So I can only imagine what it will be in two years when the war starts. It is becoming more powerful by the day, and I can only take so many vessels from it at a time."
Cassie raised an eyebrow.
"How are you even finding its vessels in the first place? By invading people's souls at random?"
Mordret looked towards the door again, then back at her, and continued speaking.
"No, by using a reflection of Sunless, he has an attribute that allows him to gaze into one's soul as well as see the inner workings of a memory. I'm afraid our little chat must end here, my father is approaching."
With that, his body cracked like glass again, changing back into Sebastian, and he then took off his monocle and placed it in his pocket with a smile. He stood up and fixed his suit while his vessel remained beside Cassie so she could pretend she was reading through papers. Meanwhile, Cassie dismissed her memories and grabbed a bunch of papers just in time for Anvil to open the door.
Mordret saw this and bowed deeply to Anvil.
"Greetings, your majesty. I only came here to tell Cassia not to spend so much time locked in this room. After all, a young lady like her should be outside with friends."
Anvil gave a slight nod, and Mordret left the room while Anvil walked fully into the room and watched as Mordret's vessel bowed.
"Your Majesty,"
Anvil glanced at Mordret for a moment before he sniffed the air and turned his steel gaze on Cassie.
"Cassia, would you care to explain why it smells like popcorn in here?"
"Ah, I was hungry, your majesty,"
Anvil stared at her for a long moment and asked, his steel gaze piercing through her.
"Do you have any left?"
'W-what?'
It took every ounce of will in Cassie's body not to laugh. This wasn't Mordret pretending to be Anvil, was it? No way, Mordret would never pretend to be a sovereign; in fact, he couldn't, his reflection could replicate the powers of sovereigns, but not the presence of one.
"No, I don't, my king,"
Anvil nodded.
"Where is Nephis?"
"I think she is in her chambers at the moment, my king."
Anvil nodded, then turned around and walked towards the door.
"Tell her that I demand her presence in the throne room when you see her."
Cassie nodded as the door closed
"Yes, my king,"
A few minutes after he left, the door opened again, and Nephis walked in.
"Oh, hey Neph, what's up?"
Nephis nodded and walked in, then closed the door behind her.
"Hey, what did Sebastian want, and why does it smell like popcorn in here?"
Cassie shrugged and looked at the vessel of Mordret as she brought the bucket of popcorn from underneath her desk and set it on her lap.
"Nothing much, he just informed me of the skinwalker, and I got hungry. Do you want some?"
Neph walked around the desk and dug her hand into the bucket.
"I have free time next week, we should go do something in the waking world, it's been ages since we've been able to do something like that. Besides, I want to get away from this place for a day."
Cassie nodded.
"Yeah, I don't have free time, but I'm sure I can manage something. Let us go shopping. I know a mall that we can go to."
Nephis tilted her head as she dug her hand into the bucket again, put popcorn in her mouth, and chewed for a while before asking.
"Why shopping?"
Casie shrugged.
"Why not? Also, the king of swords requires your presence."
Neph nodded, then his eyes met the vessel of Mordret, and they widened when he winked at her.
"Alright then, what have you been up to?"
Cassie sighed.
"I've been trying to catch up on papers since I've been distracted ever since Beastmaster took Master Sunless to dinner-"
Cassie froze as the words left her lips.
'Ah, damnation,'
She didn't mean to say that. Cassie hadn't forgotten about the crush Neph developed for Sunny when he was in Bastion for three months.
Neph's face became emotionless at the information.
"She…took him to dinner?"
Cassie tilted her head.
"Did I say dinner? It must have been a slip of the tongue."
"Don't play dumb. What else did she do?"
"…"
Neph took a step forward.
"Cassie, what else did Beastmaster do to Master Sunless?"
Cassie met her gaze with a blank expression.
"Who's Master Sunless?"
Cassie yelped as Neph suddenly lunged at her and jumped out of her chair.
"Wait! Wait! She didn't take him anywhere! It was just a joke!"
Neph chased her around the desk, and papers flew across the room.
"Then you're worse than Saint Jest,"
Mordret stood off to the side and watched Changing Star chase Cassia around the room while throwing things everywhere. He shook his head at the sight.
'This is supposed to be humanity's next leader? I almost feel bad for them.'
A heavy thud was soon heard as Neph put Cassie into a headlock.
"What else did she do, Cass? Did…Did she kiss him?"
Cassie grunted in effort as she tried to pry Neph off.
"No…."
Neph squeezed her arms tighter.
"You're lying,"
"Okay! Okay! She kissed him on the cheeks,"
Neph's eyes widened as she nearly let go before she locked her arms again.
"How many times?"
Cassie didn't answer for a long time and braced for Neph's react
"Ten,"
Neph frowned deeply, and the papers in the room immediately caught on fire.
"What?"
…
A week had passed when Cassie and Neph finally had time to themselves, arrived at NQSC, and began walking down the street to a mall to shop. They noticed a random, mundane woman across the street ringing a bell over her head, shouting something that made both Cassie and Nephis freeze.
"Praise our Lord on the Moon! Praise our savior! Praise Asterion!"
Another person on the sidewalk cheered.
"Praise him!"
Then another.
"Praise him!"
Then another.
"Praise him!"
Soon, a small crowd began chanting in unison.
"Praise him!"
"Praise him!"
Noticing her lack of movement, Casie turned to her friend.
"Neph, are you alright?"
Her friend met her gaze and slowly nodded.
"Yes, I'm fine,"
She was not fine, far from it. In fact, she was scared, Cassie could tell by the look on her face. Suddenly, a tall, random woman with fair skin and green eyes appeared beside them, frowning, and looked at the chanters for a while before leaning down close to Cassie's ear and speaking.
"I tried to warn you, didn't I, Song of the Fallen? He is someone to be terrified of. And as for you, Changing Star, believe it or not, the arrival of the dreamspawn is not something you can blow your way out of. Such a shock for you, I imagine. So congratulations, Changing Star, you are now infected as well."
Nephis attempted to regain her composure and asked.
"How do we stop it?"
Mordret leaned back and laughed mockingly.
"Stop it? You can't stop a disease that's already spread; you only delay for so long before it completely takes over."
Nephis' lips curled into a smile.
"You're giving the dreamspawn far too much credit, aren't you? There's a way to stop him, and it's Cassie."
Cassie felt happy for her friend to have such confidence in her, but Cassie herself didn't feel the same as Sunny, the prince of nothing, and Neph; she, too, had not the slightest clue of how to reach natural supremacy yet.
"My my, such confidence, you don't think it's strange how the moment you decide to take time for yourself and relax, that this happens? Tell me, Changing Star, what possessed you to come to the waking world in the first place? Where did it come from?"
"That's- I wanted to get away from everything, even if it was just for a day."
Mordret smiled.
"And you decided to come here?"
Cassie shook her head and frowned.
"Yes, we were meaning to go shopping, and this is the way I know-"
Mordret smiled.
"Oh? But is it the way you usually go?"
Cassie's eyes widened.
"No, that's impossible."
Mordret raised an eyebrow.
"What's impossible? The fact that he has already manipulated your thoughts?"
That was impossible; then again, they had no idea where he was. Only the queen of worms did, and Sunny hadn't gone back yet to ask about Ki Song's former cohort, as he had been too busy over the past week. Cassie was truly counting on that and hoped that he would go back soon.
Neph slowly turned to face him fully.
"What are you doing here in the first place, Mordret?"
Mordret threw his head back and laughed, and all of the chanting people suddenly stopped, and Cassie saw their eyes snap to where all three of them were standing. Both Cassie and Neph found themselves taking a step back in fear.
"Oh, little Neph, what gave you the idea that I was that boy? Goodness gracious, I know it's been a long time, but I'm honestly hurt. You mean you truly don't recognize your uncle Aster?"
Aren't you all happy that you didn't have to wait as long? :)