Sunny remained composed, his gaze as stalwart as ever, as if he had nothing to hide. Seishan was giving a sidelong glance, and he could feel her slight worry and suspicion.
'...Not good.'
Even Seishan had noticed something was off with what he said.
Ki Song grinned slightly, as if feeling his apprehension.
"Still though, I am a little curious as to what happened between you two. Tell me?"
"...Alright."
Sunny heaved a long sigh.
"A couple months ago, I was feeling a little worn out so I sat down in a random park. Out of nowhere, some old man sat next to me and started asking me some questions. I was a little suspicious of him, of course, so I checked."
Ki Song nodded along, and he could feel Seishan's discomfort growing.
"To my horror, he was a Supreme. It obviously wasn't you, and I didn't think it was Anvil, so I asked him and he confirmed my suspicions."
Ki Song raised an eyebrow.
"Why didn't you pretend not to know him?"
Sunny glowered.
"Well I thought he was there to kill me or something! And didn't you say he could read minds anyways? He would've known I knew!"
Ki Song laughed slightly before motioning for him to continue.
"Anyways, he asked me a couple questions so I asked him if he'd answer some of mine. He proposed answering ten of my questions if I answered ten of his, so I agreed."
"What did you ask?"
"Oh, just some things I was curious about. Like… why you lot killed Broken Sword."
Ki Song nodded, her smile dimming slightly.
"Ah, so that's how you knew. What did he tell you?"
"He told me that the man was mad, and wanted to become Sacred. Something about the world not being ready for it."
Ki Song grinned, leaning an elbow on her throne's armrest.
"And you believed that?"
Sunny shook his head.
"Of course not. But sometimes, you're better off not knowing things."
Of course, he'd keep the fact he knew about Weaver's lineage hidden for now. Ki Song didn't need to know that he knew. It would only draw needless suspicion, and Ki Song had most certainly not earned enough trust from him for that. Hope had said she wasn't unworthy of his trust, but he'd have to see that first.
Ki Song nodded in approval.
"A wise decision. Then?"
"He also asked me about my relation to Nephis, something about a god… then something about fate being in disarray. Do you know anything about that?"
Ki Song's eyes widened slightly.
"He asked you that? Interesting… I may know a thing or two."
Sunny shook his head.
"Tell me later. I'm not that curious. He also asked how I knew what the Will was, and if I knew how the Doom War ended."
Ki Song laughed, leaning forward.
"The Doom War? Well, do you?"
Sunny scrunched his face.
"Of course not!"
Ki Song leaned back, nodding as she pondered to herself.
"Hm…"
As her mother stopped to think, Seishan nudged Sunny's side.
"And he just left after that?"
Sunny nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
Ki Song looked up, having thought over his story.
"You got lucky."
Sunny glanced at her, his face unmoving.
"I think so too."
To survive an encounter with a Sovereign who had ambiguous motives, he counted himself lucky. He wasn't sure why Asterion always left after only speaking with him shortly, and honestly, he didn't want to know.
"Most likely, he finds you amusing so he's letting you run about. Just to… you know, see what happens."
Sunny nodded.
"That was also my guess."
"You did well to ascend so quickly then, I suppose. The stronger you are, the better. Tell me if you encounter him again."
"Will do."
He decided to hide the fact Asterion had agreed to leave him alone for now. He wasn't completely sure if he'd keep his word or not, so he wasn't counting on it.
'I still need to prepare myself.'
He had absolutely no chance against a Supreme. Perhaps even when he became a Saint he wouldn't. He wasn't even sure he could hide from someone like Asterion, let alone run.
"Now…"
Ki Song's smile, causing Sunny to inwardly shudder.
"About your Nightmare. I'm quite curious to hear about what you went through…"
He felt Seishan's gaze on him sharpen as well. Both of them wanted to know.
Sunny shrugged.
"Went in, killed a bunch of stuff, left."
Both of them stared at him silently, clearly not accepting the story.
"Oh, but before I forget, here."
Summoning a Memory, he tossed it to the Raven Queen.
Catching the strange device, Ki Song looked over it for a moment before turning to him.
"This is?"
He shook his head.
"No idea. But I got it from a descendant of Beast God, so maybe you can use it?"
Ki Song laughed.
"So you know about that too! Did that guy tell you?"
"No, I just guessed."
He turned to Seishan and then looked at the queen.
"Thanks for the confirmation."
Ki Song laughed even louder.
"You guessed? How wonderful!"
Even Seishan seemed a bit unnerved by the fact he knew.
As Ki Song inspected the Memory, Seishan moved closer to him and whispered:
"Hey… how did you know?"
Sunny turned his head slightly.
"Well, Night is obviously Storm, I'm guessing Valor is War… so that would leave Shadow, Sun, Beast, and Heart. You lot obviously aren't Shadow or Sun, and I'd assume you aren't Heart either, so there you go."
Seishan's eyes widened curiously.
"What makes you think we aren't Heart? And why would we need to be of the Beast?"
Sunny just stared at her pointedly.
"Well, if you all were of Heart you'd either be some weird maniacs or you'd be a bunch of gardeners living in a grove or something. And if all the other Great Clans have relations to gods, why wouldn't the Song Clan have it?"
Seishan nodded, his words making sense.
"And you know the Great Clans have relations to gods how?"
Sunny turned his head away slightly, only meeting her gaze with the corner of his eye.
"Immortal Flame Clan."
Seishan turned away.
"Oh."
The two stopped talking, waiting for Ki Song to complete her inspection. She seemed to be whispering something silently as she ran her fingers along one of the device's brass components.
After a while, Ki Song turned to him.
"The one you say you this from, the descendant. What was their name?"
"Noctis."
Ki Song mumbled something before humming slightly.
"Noctis, huh?"
"You know him?"
The queen glanced at him.
"Not at all."
"...Oh."
Nodding in satisfaction, Ki Song tossed it back to him. Instead of catching it, Sunny simply dismissed it.
"It's good. What do you want for it?"
Sunny blinked.
'What… What do I want for it?'
He hadn't even stolen it for a reward. He'd simply stolen it because he thought she could use it.
Sunny stood there for a while thinking.
The silence was quite awkward.
…
He could feel the confused gaze of both Ki Song and Seishan.
"I… I don't know. Consider it a gift? No no, I'll think of something later."
Both of their eyes went wide, as if witnessing something unbelievable.
'Come on. It's not that surprising.'
He could be nice for once… He wasn't a man only driven by greed…
Truthfully, the real reason was that he'd completely forgotten to consider what to ask for thanks to the events earlier in the day. It made for quite the strange situation.
'Well… if they think better of me then that's good enough I guess?'
Perhaps he could get Ki Song to change her mind eventually… then that would be one less Sovereign he'd have to kill.
"Sunless… I was not aware you had such an altruistic side you…"
Ki Song was already smiling at him, an annoyingly smug glint in her eye.
"This isn't altruism. I just… I just forgot to think about what I should ask for. Yeah."
Even Seishan snickered slightly from beside him, only to immediately go quiet after receiving a glare from Sunny.
"Thats great and all, Sunless. But… don't think this means you don't have to tell me about the Nightmare."
'Damn it!'
He'd partially hoped that Ki Song would let him off if he bribed her… but alas.
"Fine. What do you want to know then?"
Ki Song turned to Seishan.
"Shan, why don't you ask him?"
Seishan, who had remained mostly silent for the past several minutes, looked at her mother in confusion.
"...Me?"
"Yes. Aren't you curious as well?"
"I-... Yes, I am."
Sunny met her gaze with the corner of his eye with a pleading expression, only for her to heartlessly tilt her head away just enough so that she couldn't meet his eyes.
'Damnation…'
"Where… and when did your Nightmare take place?"
Sunny sighed.
"It was in the Chained Isles, and as for when? I don't know, a couple thousand years ago? A couple centuries before the end of the Golden Age, I'd say."
Ki Song laughed.
"Wow, not bad! You really are quite knowledgeable."
Sunny nodded in slight gratitude as Seishan chose her next question.
"What was… what did you think the goal of the Nightmare was?"
'Ah… this is a harder one.'
Sunny feigned falling into thought for a moment as he waited for the pain of his Flaw to build up.
"The goal… Well, if you know the Chained Isles, then I'm sure you know of the demon chained there. The goal was to free them or ensure they never escape."
Of course, in this context Sunny was being quite loose with the term 'escape'. To him, never escaping was akin to death.
But the truth was subjective. Death could also be seen as being freed. He was going to use that fact.
"And? What did you choose?"
"To free them."
Seishan nodded, thinking hard.
"What did you have to do to free this demon exactly?"
Sunny inwardly groaned.
"Break its chains. Had to use a couple dirty tricks here and there, but it could've been worse."
He was quite thankful that he had to deal with Song rather than Valor. No doubt, someone like Anvil would know far more about the history of the Chained Isles as opposed to someone like Ki Song would. His Domain reached into that region, after all. He was sure to have plenty of subordinates researching it as well.
'Probably… who knows what Song knows?'
Sunny would try his best not to reveal anything, but he couldn't be too evasive, otherwise he'd just bring even more suspicion to himself.
"Was it difficult?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Of course it was. If it were easy, I would think something was wrong."
Ki Song snorted, but said nothing. Seishan glanced at her mother for a second before continuing her questioning.
"Did you get any Memories?"
Sunny nodded.
"I got a couple. I doubt they'd be too useful for you lot though. Sorry."
"Oh? Like what?"
He sighed.
"Like a sword. Made of glass. Shoots lasers. Very cool! I also got, lets see… a chair, some robes, a charm, and… some armour. That's about it."
"A chair?"
"That's what you ask about?"
Seishan nodded slowly.
"Well… why would you bother mentioning it if it weren't interesting?"
Sunny nodded.
"Yes, that's true… It's special because, well… It's a really nice chair. Want to see it?"
Seishan coughed slightly, turning away.
"Nevermind. Did you get any Echoes?"
"No."
"Did you get anything besides those Memories?"
Sunny stopped to think for a moment.
"I almost got killed? I also got my eyes torn out… Ah, I also got an attribute, if that's what you were asking for."
Completely ignoring his other words, Seishan's eyes widened as she spoke again.
"An attribute?"
"Yeah. It's pretty good. Helps me stay hidden."
Seishan nodded curiously.
"I see… interesting. How did you acquire this attribute exactly?"
"Ah… it was pretty simple."
Sunny took a deep breath.
"Using the description of a Memory, I learned about a certain ritual you could do with it. I did it, and I got it. Pretty painful ritual that was…"
Seishan tensed slightly, and Sunny felt something akin to morbid curiosity coming from her shadow.
"What… what ritual?"
Sunny grinned.
"Oh, I just had to tear out my heart and eyes. Pretty simple I'd say!"
Seishan's eyes widened, but before she could say anything, Ki Song sighed.
"Oh Seishan… you still have so much to learn."
The princess of Song turned to her mother, nervous.
"Ah, forgive me mother…"
Ki Song shook her head.
"You missed a couple obvious questions there, Shan. Here, let me."
The Raven Queen turned to Sunny, grinning.
'...Crap.'
His short questioning was about to become a terrifying interrogation.
"Instead of asking him what the ritual was, you should've asked him…"
Nails tapped against the jade armrests of the queen's throne.
"Who was the ritual dedicated to?"
Sunny swallowed hard, coughing slightly.
"Ah… it was for the Storm God."
'Damn you!'
A strong shock came from the shadow beside him, its surprise clear.
"S-Storm God?"
Ki Song hummed slightly, placing her jaw on her palm.
"Hm… Strange, I thought the gods were dead? Surely the Night wouldn't wake up just for you, right? Unless, of course, there's something you aren't telling us…"
Sunny stuttered, nervous.
"T-That…"
Then, he calmed himself.
"The Spell said… it said the remnant divinity within the Memory stirred, so it wasn't exactly Storm God who blessed me, but the Memory? Or perhaps the Spell had something to do with it?"
Ki Song nodded, smiling.
"I see, I see… and that gave you an attribute, did it?"
"Yeah…"
Ki Song laughed slightly.
"What does it do?"
"Helps me hide."
"Tell me the exact description, boy."
Sunny inwardly sighed.
'Damn this woman!'
"It says: 'You are hidden from the world.'"
For a split second, Ki Song's eyes widened. A moment later, she returned to smiling impassively.
"The world, huh? I see… a good attribute. I don't suppose the ritual can be recreated?"
"No. Not unless you have the remnant divinity for it, I guess."
"And where did you get it from? Who did you kill for it, Sunless?"
Sunny resisted the urge to step away.
'So many damn questions!'
"Blessed of the Storm God. Someone named Aranea, I think."
Ki Song nodded, remaining silent for a moment.
"I see, I see… that will be all for that. Now tell me Seishan, what else do you think you missed?"
Seishan tensed, having suddenly been brought back into the conversation.
"Oh, uhm… I should've asked more about the Memories he received?"
Ki Song shook her head.
"Not at all. He isn't a servant, Shan. We don't need to know every single thing in his Memory arsenal."
"O-Oh, okay. Then, what should I have asked, mother?"
'She's… she's using this as an opportunity to teach her daughter interrogation??'
Sunny was aggrieved.
He was already being questioned like a prisoner, but the fact he was being used for educational purposes too?
'Let me out!!'
Of course, he said none of that. A Sovereign was right in front of him. He was a Master now, Ki Song likely wouldn't be as lenient with him acting on his own. It was the important pieces that needed to be tracked the most. Had he been a simple Awakened, he would just be punished, but an Ascended? Mess around too much, and he might just find out…
"I won't tell you yet, Shan. Keep trying."
"Understood."
Seishan went silent for a moment, thinking deeply.
After a while, she seemed to reach some conclusion.
"When you said you broke the chains to free the demon…"
'Oh… shit.'
Seishan turned to him, the wicked grin on her face reminiscent of Ki Song herself.
"...What exactly were those chains?"
Ki Song laughed, a wide smile lining her face.
"That's it! Well done."
Seishan hid a smile, turning away slightly.
'You… you evil b-'
"Well, are you going to answer?"
Sunny cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Yes. Yes, of course."
He sighed.
"The chains weren't exactly normal chains. Rather, they were immortal Awakened, only able to be killed with special knives that contained their deaths. I had already gathered some of the knives from our present time before entering, so I didn't have much trouble with that."
Ki Song said nothing, looking at Seishan expectantly.
"And… who were these immortals?"
"Well, if you want their names…"
"No."
Sunny blinked.
'Oh come on!'
"What were their ranks?"
Sunny inwardly groaned once more.
'Their goddamn lesson is working!'
Seishan was learning the right questions to ask him real time, endlessly frustrating him.
For regular Awakened, this would be a pointless skill to learn, as one really shouldn't be asking personal questions like that to anyone they didn't trust. But for a Princess of Song, who would need to know a lot more about their subjects and allies than any other Awakened would? It was an essential skill.
"Transcendents. All of them were Transcendents."
Seishan gasped slightly, and Ki Song's smile widened.
"Saints? You… wait, what were the requirements to free the demon? Break all of the chains?"
"...Thats right."
"So…"
Seishan stopped for a moment, making sure she wasn't going mad.
"You killed seven Saints?"
'Damn it all…'
There was little he could do now… any other Awakened could've just lied or made something up, but he had to answer or his Flaw would kill him.
…He was starting to suspect that at least one of them actually knew what his Flaw was.
"No. I only killed… five of them. And didn't I tell you I used dirty tricks? Even the ones I killed, it wasn't directly."
Unable to contain her curiosity, Seishan asked:
"How did the other two die then?"
"Well, one of them died right as the Nightmare began, and the other one died due to betrayal from one of their members. That treacherous lady helped me quite a lot with the rest of them, really."
Seishan nodded.
"I see, so you had the help of some of them…"
Sunny said nothing, praying she wouldn't continue.
"Still, an Awakened taking down a group of immortal Saints? Incredible!"
Sunny once more said nothing, hoping she wouldn't ask him something that would give away the fact that he ascended mid Nightmare.
"Did the raven help you?"
He nodded, sighing.
"It did."
Seishan immediately noticed his expression grow downcast.
"So… where's the raven now?"
"Died."
The hall went silent for a moment, only the howling wind outside audible.
"Oh…"
Although he wasn't looking, Sunny felt Seishan turn her head to Ki Song, a strange emotion coming from her shadow.
'Is that… pity?'
Was it for him? Or was it for Shrike?
Either way, he didn't care.
'If you pity me in any way, then stop asking me questions!'
And thankfully, his prayers were answered.
"I suppose that's enough for now, Seishan."
Through a silent conversation, Seishan had seemingly convinced the queen to let him go.
'Thank you… Thank you!'
Even though Seishan was technically his primary interrogator, she wasn't the evil witch forcing him to reveal everything. Her cruel mother was.
Really… he wouldn't mind telling the details of his Nightmare to someone he trusted. But to a Sovereign he really couldn't trust yet?
'Hell…'
"And as for you, boy…"
Ki Song smiled.
"Go home and get some rest. I presume you will staying in the Chained Isles still?"
Sunny sighed.
"That's correct. I'll see myself out then. Farewell to you both."
With a short bow, he immediately left.
'I'm free!!'
His expression remained impassive as he silently walked through the halls of the Jade Palace. The hallways were confusing as ever, but he was starting to memorise them well.
Ignoring any stares he got, he made his way straight to the Gateway.
…But unfortunately, as he crossed the cold halls, a voice got his attention as someone moved to block his path.
***
Ki Song looked at her daughter, smiling.
"Well? What do you think?"
Seishan didn't respond, still looking down in thought as the final echo of Sunless' distant footsteps quieted.
"I believe there is still more to it, mother."
"Of course there is. There's always something with that boy, isn't there?"
Such a curious one he was, Sunless… Just how many more times would he surprise her? So much knowledge, so much power! Just where on earth did he come from?
'It's like he emerged from a Nightmare!'
Perhaps he had a unique First Nightmare that allowed him to learn far more about history than most Awakened did? Perhaps he had a secret old geezer living in his mind, feeding him advice and knowledge? Or perhaps he was the rumored bastard child of Nightwalker?
'That would explain the Storm thing…'
Her thoughts were interrupted as Seishan spoke once more.
"That raven Echo, it was very formidable… to think that it's dead now…"
Ki Song laughed, shaking her head.
"Oh, Shan… why don't you ask him what the definition of death is? You can't believe everything you hear from that boy, you know. Perhaps his little raven has already been reborn in another form, and he was only using the fact we didn't know that to dodge giving us the real answer."
Seishan's eyes widened.
"I see… of course!"
Ki Song nodded, smiling.
"Now… tell me. Do you know what his Flaw is now?"
Seishan met her gaze nervously.
"Yes… I believe I might."
The Raven Queen leaned back slightly.
"Then tell me."