Walking up the stairs of the Bright Castle's entrance, two guards were on the end of it, guarding the entrance.
Sunny was helping Cassie, guinding her through each step.
He could already feel the guards gazes on Cassie… Lustful gazes.
'Tsk, what a bother.'
What did he really expect? Gunlaug is a tyrant wielding complete power. His guards and lieutenants were extensions of that power.
Of course absolute power with no restrictions would result in abuse of power.
If Gunlaug was a Sovereign, that wouldn't happen. Being a part of a domain not only gave you power, but also influenced you in certain ways. Never to the point of being mind control or impeding critical thinking, but it did make you hold more to the standards of your Sovereign.
Meaning that if Gunlaug has some sort of moral integrity, his influence would make his followers much, much less prone to power abuse, to the point that it would be unheard of.
At least Sunny has never heard of that. His mother's Will is that of a parent's care for her children, so her followers wouldn't ever dream of doing something like that. And, even though he didn't exactly like Anvil, he is honor bound, so it would never happen with his domain either.
None of this influence would ever force you to follow them of course. But everything has an exception, that… Thing's domain. The very definition of hypnosis and mind control…
One of the guards approached, the smile on his face did little to hide his true intentions.
"Hey, you can't enter unless you pay newcomer, one soul shard each. Of course! We can make an exception for the—"
As soon as Sunless turned around, the smile on the guard disappeared.
Hollow, dark eyes met the guard's brown ones, fear and dread bombarded him like a hurricane.
Sunless stared at the guard, expression cold, calculated, like he was looking at nothing.
Shadows seemed to get deeper, his shadow got deeper, almost getting the shape of a wolf. The guards felt their hearts skip a couple of beats.
It was like they were staring at the personification of Death.
An abyss of never ending shadows.
The guard only snapped out of the trance when Sunless shoved the two soul shards they had onto the guard's chest.
"Here, two Awakened soul shards. C'mon Cassie."
He guided the blind girl and ignored the two guards that stood still, scared for their lives.
"You are scary, you know?"
Cassie said it with a rather annoyed voice.
"Hm? Yeah, I hear that a lot."
Entering the big castle doors, they were greeted by some more guards and a reception desk where an insecure looking kid, not much older than Sunny, nervously scrambled to organize himself.
"Hey. How do things work here?"
The boy jumped in surprise and looked up with a yelp.
"Ah! Yes! How can I help you?!"
His voice was weak, he looked weak, his shadow was weak. Sunless could tell the guards also thought that.
'How did he survive here? Is he secretly strong? No… He simply put himself in his place.'
The receptionist's name was Harper, he explained where they would stay and how the castle worked.
—
After everything, Harper gave them two keys for two rooms, one for Sunless, one for Cassie. They were right next to each other
When night came, Sunless sneaked into Cassie's room to test Weaver's lineage.
Sunny was leaning on the wall, Cassie sitting in the bed in front of him.
Serpent was summoned around Sunny's neck, its black scales making it almost invisible in the dark room. Wraith, meanwhile, was taking pleasure in receiving affection from Cassie, lying in bed next to her.
"That [Azure Blade] has an enchantment that makes it stronger when it's cutting dead flesh."
Turns out she could also see his memories with her aspect, so he didn't need to transfer his to her.
"That's… Useless."
"It's from a Carapace Scavenger, what did you expect?"
"Something better, the [Ordinary Rock] at least has some use."
He had acquired two new memories, both from small creatures, [Prowling Thorn] was a knife that connected to his wrist with an invisible string. The other was a rock that… Repeated what he said.
"..... That was not a good example."
Cassie looked at him humorlessly.
"No kidding. How's the scouting going?"
His mind was split in three places, at the same time he was with Cassie, he was scouting the whole castle with the Gloomy shadow, the Happy shadow was with Nephis, blending with her shadow.
"Not much to see, but I heard some guards talking about 'chief Tessai not being satisfied', and some handmaidens saying that 'the lady is impatient', something happened it seems…"
"And Nephis?"
"Safe, still organizing the… Her new house I guess?"
"We'll know tomorrow I guess, I'm just glad I'll be able to sleep in an actual bed after 2 months…"
The rooms were relatively nice, nothing compared to the Jade Palace or the Song Manor's rooms, but the bed was nice and it allowed some privacy. It was enough.
There was also another memory in Revel's runes, a new message.
Memory: [Congradulations.]
Description: [Your Mother: Now that you are no longer enthralled, and got rid of the profane blood.
You did well Sunny… Shadow God's lineage is yours, I'm sure you will make good use of it, we all are…
I'm proud of you… Keep going, find Seishan and conquer this Death Zone.]
Sunny couldn't help but smile, his mother was proud of him…
'My mother… I think you were right teacher…'
His birth mother trusted Ki Song to take care of him. And she did.
Regardless of what Fate imposed, of what it wanted, of what it was planned…
She went against it, the Sovereign changed Fate itself for him… A outskirts rat meant to rot and become the carrier of a profane lineage…
Sunny would never forget the one who brought him into the world…
But he can also love the one who protected and prepared him for this one.
"I… Love you… Mom…"
He could finally say those words without regret.
Cassie interrupted his thoughts.
"I wonder what Neph thinks… Knowing what Ki Song did."
Sunny stared at the girl, confused.
"Up until now, she thought of the Sovereigns as nothing more than tyranicall fools that killed her father. But now, she just discovered that Ki Song did the impossible… Just for you…"
She smiled and put thinking face on, continuing.
"Will she continue on her revenge? Or try to learn the whole story of her greatest enemies…?"
Sunny looked down, seeing Nephis through the Happy shadow, staying silent, then looking at Cassie.
"I don't know."
"Me either…"
Silence settled… The Price of Song changed the subject.
"Whatever the case, I did see something like a shop, tomorrow we'll take a look, it might have some good things."
Cassie sighed, but accepted, bringing her own thoughts on the matter.
"But we don't have any soul shards, that is the currency in this place."
"We'll figure it out, it's not like I need…"
He stopped when he sensed a shadow approaching his room. He immediately called Gloomy back to see the individual.
When it returned, it kept watch on the corridor.
It was a woman, she wore a handmaiden uniform and walked confident steps towards his room. She had dark tied up hair that fell on her right shoulder, violet eyes showed a unique aspect that changed her body, a beautiful face and pale skin illuminated by a small lantern.
"Cass, keep quiet."
—
Nix was rather annoyed, her whole day was getting from one place to another just because Tessai wanted to overstep his authority as the head of the guards, meddling in the handmaiden's affairs.
Being one of Lady Seishan's trusted confidants sure had benefits, but also its annoying parts. Sure, she never worried about food or a place to stay, but she still had to hunt and work a lot.
'Still better than staying with him in the outer settlement… Seriously, what was he thinking?'
She sighed, not wanting to think of that again. Tired after two days of non-stop work, this was her final task before a day of rest. Thankfully, it was a simple, yet strange one.
One of her usual tasks was to keep Lady Seishan informed of every one that entered the Bright Castle, informing the names and what they looked like. She never reacted much, only ever looking out for the new girls for the handmaidens, but today, she got surprised, even emotional.
And it was for the boy…
'Why? I wonder…'
She was tasked to fetch him to Lady Seishan's room, even giving Nix a sentence for her to say, and how the boy should answer.
'No matter how many nights or cycles pass…
Blood will always protect you.'
Nix wondered what it meant… Well, it wasn't her place, and she was too tired to think.
Walking to the boy's room, she began to knock on the door quietly, hoping he wasn't sleeping.
"Excuse me? Can you-"
Nix suddenly heard the sound of a door opening on her right, she got in a defensive position and began to summon her memory. In the middle of white sparks appeared an ascended black dagger she obtained a year ago.
The creak of the door transformed in complete silence, with nothing coming out of it, only shadows.
In fact, now that she noticed, the shadows did seem denser here then the rest of the castle…
'Either way, when I think about it, the girl in there is blind, she wouldn't need any light.'
She composed herself and regained her posture, not dismissing her dagger yet.
"I'm sorry for disrupting you Miss, I–"
Suddenly, she felt a cold, sharp blade touching the skin of her neck. A strong hand touched her shoulder.
Her face twisted, dread consumed her, her whole body stuffed in fear.
'I-I couldn't sense him!'
How? How could she not notice? Someone sneaked through her senses. Was it an assassin? Or a spy? Was she going to die? After everything she's been through, dying over a fecht quest?
The person holding her hostage spoke, his voice cold and hollow.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
Nix tried to breathe, her hands trembling uncontrollably. Eventually, she answered, composing herself and choosing her words carefully to not reveal much. She pointed to the boy's room.
"I-I'm a handmaiden, I was tasked to retrieve the one that is logged here. Who are you…?"
The assassin immediately answered.
"I'm the one you're looking for, what do you want?"
'You?! Lady Seishan wants to speak to you?! Please, please let this work.'
Nix swallowed and spoke the beginning of the password
"No matter how many nights or cycles pass…"
The assassin seemed to hesitate, then his grip on her softened, and he took the blade out of her neck, letting her breathe properly. He released her.
"...Blood will always protect you."
He completed the sentence flawlessly, like he repeated a thousand times.
Nix turned to see the assassin, no, the target of her task, now that she looked properly, he kind of looked like Lady Seishan…
He walked to the girl's door, opening completely and speaking.
"Cass, I need to leave, I don't think I'll come back so soon. Wraith will stay, you can sleep. I will explain everything later."
Nix could only hear a 'All right', then the boy closed the door and turned to her. His whole demeanor is much more relaxed. Not at all looking like the assassin that almost killed her.
"Bring me to Seishan, it's been a long time since I talked to my sister."
—
Nix walked through the corridors with Lady Seishan's room as her destination, trying to stay calm. In the exterior, she looked like the overworked, tired handmaiden she always was. But inside, she was processing the fact that the brother of her Lady, who almost killed her, was walking right behind her… And she couldn't even see him!
The shadows completely covered him like he was their God or something.
"Is it too far?"
Even his voice was scary.
"No… It's just around the corner.."
He seemed to ponder for a moment.
"Seishan must really trust you."
That caught Nix off guard.
"I'm sorry?"
"For her to ask you to do this… While she shelters many, she's still one to choose her allies. Well, at least she used to."
'She trusts me… I can definitely see that.'
A small smile creeped onto her face.
They had arrived.
"This is as far as I can go, Lady Seishan is waiting."
"Thank you."
Nix began to walk away. The last thing she heard was the opening of the door and the voice of the boy.
"Long time no see, sis."