Sunny woke up with a gasp; the wind outside howled far too loudly, and his TV blasted a show he couldn't have cared less about at the moment. He felt around his bed for the remote and turned the TV with a grunt.
"Please shut up,"
Rubbing his face tiredly, he flopped back down into his bed with a sigh before grabbing his phone to check the time and smiling when he saw it.
"Only 5am? I only slept for six hours?"
It felt like he had slept for twelve!
Putting his phone down with a smile, he turned over and closed his eyes, letting sleep take him over.
It was not a moment later before his eyes snapped wide open and he shot up from his bed.
"5am! Goddamn, I'm going to be late!"
Sunny practically jumped out of bed before his phone began ringing.
"Sah-ne-"
Sunny quickly answered the phone without looking at the contact.
"Shut up."
A soft-spoken, husky voice scoffed in his ear.
"We may not like each other, but there's no need to be rude, Sunless. Especially when I didn't say anything yet."
"Eunbin? Why are you calling so early?"
"Your girlfriend called me, wondering if you were going to be at work today."
"She's not my girlfriend,"
"Athena says otherwise,"
"She's been saying that for years, don't listen to her."
"Regardless of what she is to you, make sure you tell the woman that you're going to be at work today. I don't want to have to speak to you again for any reason at all, Sunless."
Sunny heard the line go quiet, and he threw his hands up in frustration.
"What is her problem with me?"
Hearing her speak that way made him desperately miss his Enchantress, his friend, his Eunbin, the real Eunbin.
'Enchantress? My Eunbin? What the hell am I thinking about?'
He needed to shower and get ready!
…
Stepping out of his car with two cups of coffee in his hands he had brought from a coffee shop on his way here, he checked his watch and walked towards the University of Mirage City.
Once he was at the door, he set his coffees down and took out his badge, held it near the electronic lock, and smiled when it clicked open. Going inside, he began walking down the hallway, passing his colleagues and students who greeted him warmly.
"Morning, Sunny!"
"Good morning, kid,"
"Good morning professor Sunless,"
"Good morning, Sunless!"
He passed a particular woman with glasses and dark circles underneath her eyes and stopped in place.
"Good Morning, Beth."
The woman looked over him tiredly before visibly brightening as she realized who he was.
"Good morning, Sunny! I'm so sorry that Quenten and I couldn't make it to the dinner party. We were really looking forward to it."
Sunny waved her away.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure Anvil saved you two a plate, you can stop by and tell them I sent you."
"Alright then, I'll see you later, have a good day."
"See you, you as well, and tell your husband I said hello!"
The woman waved at him as he continued walking.
"I will!"
Sunny turned around while walking and waved back. Turning around again, he nearly collided with someone before they caught him and let go so he could regain his balance.
The man gave him a look up and down before letting out a sigh with a stoic expression.
"Good morning, kiddo, you're somewhat clumsy today."
"Good morning, Dr. Julius, and sorry I almost overslept."
"You always oversleep, boy,"
Sunny scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
"Yeah, I know, I'm trying to be better about that."
"It's alright, any news on Jess and Kain?"
"No, they're still missing. How are you holding up? I know you were close with them. In fact, you were the reason they began teaching."
The older man nodded.
"Yes, I'm alright, I know they're out there somewhere. You should get going, your assistant is waiting for you."
"Alright, have a good day."
"You as well,"
Sunny continued walking down the hallway and into his classroom, where he found the door already open. Walking inside, he was met with the sight of a stunning woman with raven black hair, glasses that sat over a pair of ruby eyes, and pale skin.
She sat in a chair behind a desk, typing away on her personal laptop, before her eyes snapped over to the sound of his footsteps. Seeing him, she gave him a warm smile and stood up, walking towards him.
"Good morning professor,"
As she walked closer, Sunny had to crane his neck because of their height difference, as she towered over him. He smiled back as he handed a cup of coffee to his assistant.
"Good morning, Saint. Here you go, you look like you need it."
"I do, you're an angel,"
"Says the one who looks like one,"
Saint smiled and sipped her coffee before setting it down on her desk and sitting back down.
"You can't flirt with your subordinate, Professor,"
"I'm not! It was a compliment!"
Saint gave him a look.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
"Whatever, you know, you never told me why you stopped pursuing psychology."
"And you never told why you stopped pursuing becoming a police officer."
"You got me there,"
Saint smiled sweetly.
"I know,"
Sunny rolled his eyes with a smile and checked his watch.
"6am, they'll be here around 8am today."
"8am? That's generous of you."
Sunny nodded.
"Yeah, I figured they needed it, since most of our students will probably be hungover after the holiday break."
Saint nodded.
"That's kind of you,"
Sunny shrugged.
"I guess, anyway, how was your weekend?"
The woman sighed and rolled her chair towards him.
"Uneventful, as always,"
"That's because you don't do anything on your days off."
"Yes, it's my day off, why would I want to go anywhere or do anything?"
…
Unknown to either of them, somewhere in Mirage City, a beautiful man was sitting in a chair, holding a steaming cup of tea in one hand and his phone in the other, as he read a book he had taken a liking to.
Meanwhile, a tall, slender, well-dressed young man with raven black hair that fell past his shoulders was writing runes on pieces of paper. That was until the beautiful man suddenly shivered and stood up as he looked around in fright.
"D-did someone mention those horrible creatures?"
They had to! Otherwise, he wouldn't be shivering like a wet dog, as he was normally the bravest person in all of Mirage City!
Mordret looked over at his teacher, curious.
"What creatures? Do you mean the angels?"
The man set his cup of tea down and immediately waved his arms frantically, looking panicked.
"Hush, boy, hush! What did I tell you about invoking those things?!"
"What's the problem, though? You told me that they all died in the Doom War."
"I know that, but still! You have no idea what those things are capable of, now quit asking questions and keep writing those runes!"
Mordret stood up, stretched, and made his way towards the kitchen.
"Actually, I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want anything?"
His teacher nodded.
"Yes, I would, wait! What are you doing?!"
Mordret, who spotted a slider in the floor corner, folded a newspaper and prepared to kill it, froze in place at the outburst.
"Getting rid of the spider,"
His teacher cried out as he jumped up.
"No, no! Don't take one more step! Don't touch that spider! What did I tell you about spiders?"
"They're sacred,"
That's right! So killing spiders is forbidden."
Mordret retracted his newspaper from the floor corner and backed away.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. You told me that you didn't like pests, and I never said I was going to kill it; I was only going to move it somewhere else."
His teacher wore a nervous expression.
"Pest? A spider is not a pest! And don't move it."
His teacher pointed to the same small spider that Mordret had seen on his back porch last night.
How in the world did it get here?
"This is not a pest!"
Mordret held his hands up in defense with a look of guilt for forgetting his teacher's beliefs about spiders.
"I get it, teacher, I understand, I'm sorry,"
With a look of fright, his teacher immediately rushed over to the corner and kneeled in front of the small spider, leaning forward with a frantic whisper.
"He… He didn't mean it. Please, please, I beg of you not to take any offense; the boy had no idea! I know you're not the real one, but I implore you to spare him!"
The small spider said nothing, as it was a spider, and stared at his teacher with unblinking eyes as he stood up, his face covered in nervous sweat.
"You…You are very lucky that I was here, because if I hadn't been, you would have become dust in the wind for saying such a thing! Watch your words when they are present!"
Mordret stared at his teacher with a strange expression, then shook his head.
"It's a spider."
His teacher frantically pointed at it.
"Be quiet! I'm serious, you could have died! I saved your very existence, boy! Don't you realize who this is?!"
Mordret stared at his teacher, then the spider, then his teacher again, and repeated his words.
"It's a spider,"
His teacher wiped his face and waved him away, then flopped back onto the couch and lay across it.
"Bah! Whatever! Keep drawing, you should be apologizing for giving me a heart attack like that,"
"I'm sorry,"
A few minutes of silence passed as Mordret continued writing and drawing what his teacher thought to be basic runes.
'These aren't basic at all.'
Suddenly, the older man dramatically put his arm over his face and sighed loudly.
"Gods, I'm bored, there's nothing to do around here."
Mordret looked over at him.
"Actually, I'm having trouble with this rune. Can you help me?"
"If only there were someone to help,"
"Teacher, I need help."
"My oh my, if only someone needed help, then this crisis could go away."
Mordret sighed deeply. He couldn't believe that he had to do this again.
"Teacher, you are grand and wise,"
His teacher smiled widely and looked over at him.
"And?"
"And the most intelligence person in all of Mirage City,"
"Thats right! Now what is it, my dear student?"
"Help me,"
His teacher sat up a bit, threw his head back, and laughed loudly.
"No,"
Mordret pursed his lips.
"Why not?"
Lying back down and turning to face him, he gave a half-hearted shrug.
"Because I'm busy,"
"No, you're not, you're just lounging there."
"Yes, I know that, which is why I said I'm busy."
"Doing nothing?"
The man smiled.
"You of all people know that nothing is quite literally something as the gods used it to help seal the void, so with that divine logic, I am doing something."
"You can't be serious. Help me, teacher."
Pulling out his phone, he turned on his back and began typing away.
"I refuse,"
"But you're not even doing anything, you literally said you were bored."
"I said I'm busy!"
"Reading fanfiction?"
Looking away from his phone, he stared at Mordret with a raised eyebrow.
"Is that what this is called? I was wondering why some of the novels read so strangely. Anyway, I've enjoyed reading them."
"Don't get too attached, it's not real, teacher, none of this is."
"Well, it's real to me. This work of fiction I'm reading, I enjoy, but it irritates me."
"Why is that?"
"Because it has been 57 chapters and not a single damn kiss yet, not one! The closest the protagonist had come was a kiss on the cheek after he went on a date; he wasn't even aware it was a date until the female lead told him! How dense can someone be?!"
Mordret shrugged and glanced up from his paper.
"I think I know that one and blame the author for his denseness. Besides, should you really be surprised? We all know the protagonist isn't the most emotionally intelligent."
His teacher waved him away.
"It doesn't matter if he is or not; he should have some common sense! We got to them holding hands and a kiss on the cheek, but that's it. Why does the author insist on dragging their relationship out as friends? Just get together already! Everyone, including her mother, thinks they're dating!"
Mordret shrugged.
"It's going to be a while before the next date and a lot longer before a kiss happens. It's a slow burn relationship, I'm not sure what you're expecting, teacher."
"Well, it needs to burn faster! I want my ship to sail into the seas like the children of the storm god did in their home realm!"
Mordret shook his head and put his pencil down.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't enjoy the lack of fight scenes. I can count on one hand the number of fight scenes there are throughout the 57 chapters. Oh, and don't get me started on the comedy; it would be much better if it took itself more seriously. The romance is enjoyable but also pretty shallow. I trust that the author will go into depth with it. I do enjoy the novel's slice-of-life, but I think there is far too much of it; it adds nothing to the story and serves as filler. Well, if this were a story, wouldn't this entire conversation count as filler?"
His teacher nodded.
"Yes, it would, in fact, the only reason we're having this entire conversation in the first place is that the author is being lazy and wants to meet the imaginary word count he made for himself. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book and the most shameless."
Mordret stared at him for a long time with a confused expression.
"What?"
"What?"
"What did you just say?"
"I said what?"
"No, no, before that,"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, dear student. Anyway! Too much? How is that supposed to make me feel better, boy? Too much slice of life? There's not enough of it! And what do you mean the romance is shallow?! The only time the female lead can be herself is when she is around her family or the main protagonist, as she doesn't feel the need to put up a front around him. The protagonist helped her face her fears of going into the house of what she thought was her dead parents' house, only to find out that they were alive."
"That's something, I suppose."
"You… You. Whatever, it's not shallow at all; it's cute and heartwarming. I want to see those two get married."
"Their dialogue is forced."
"Forced? How… How dare you?"
"It's my opinion, teacher, there's no need to get worked up.
"Well, I don't like your opinion, so therefore it's wrong."
"That's not how that works at all,"
His teacher ignored him and crossed his legs.
"Anyway, maybe the author is bad at writing fight scenes, so they would rather not have any fight scenes than have their readers have to read a bad one."
Mordret continued drawing runes.
"That's not an excuse; the only way they are going to get better at writing them is if they write them more."
"Well, either way, fight scenes or no fight scenes, I enjoy the work of fiction. Honestly, for the longest time, I thought it was only going to be slice-of-life, but fortunately, there is a plot as well, even if it is slow to reveal itself."
Mordret nodded.
"I can agree with that. I enjoy how they are introducing the antagonist of the story; he showed up so unexpectedly, especially after the female lead found out her parents were alive this entire time."
"I was baffled when she said his name without realizing it while she and the protagonist were having their dinner date. But anyway, who cares about the parents? They add nothing to the story and have the depth of a bowl of soup."
"Give it time, teacher; they were introduced recently, the author kept them alive for a reason."
His teacher scoffed.
"Well, even if the parents being alive brought the female lead and the protagonist closer together, I still don't care about them. They seem like nothing more than a plot device to introduce the villain of the story. I also couldn't care less about the arc that recently started; it's too strange and confusing, leaving me with too many questions. It's similar to what you said about the slice-of-life: it's only filler. There has barely been any story development in this arc aside from the character development of the person it seems to be focusing on."
Mordret frowned.
"The arc just started, don't you have any sense of patience? The author is making it confusing on purpose; it will all make sense in due time."
His teacher shook his head and took a sip of his tea.
"No, I don't, and he needs to stop. I don't enjoy being confused. I'm going to read something else until the arc is over."
"What if you miss an important story development?"
"What important development? The story isn't deep, and that's fine with me; not every story needs to be deep and emotional. I read stories to laugh, not to cry."
"I'm hoping the story gets more serious as the volume goes on and the villain gets closer and closer to arriving."
"You want to see characters suffer? What a terrible boy you are."
"I never said that."
"But you were implying it."
Frowning deeply, the older man suddenly buried his head in his hands and groaned.
"Good gods, I'm done pretending that I have a clue what I'm talking about. I will never get used to the strange words you children of war use nowadays, nor will I understand them. I don't even know what half of these words mean, and I don't have a clue as to what a fanfiction is."
"You didn't need to pretend."
The man gave him a long look and rolled his eyes.
"Of course, I did, I wanted to find another topic to talk about with you."
"Well, that's nice of you,"
"Yes, it is."
Mordret pushed his hair out of his face. It was past his just shoulders now.
"I really need a haircut,"
"No, you don't, let it grow out, and I'll give you one of my garments."
"So I can look like you?"
"Exactly! Who wouldn't want to look like me? I'm sure there is someone out there who has taken after my image, and if they have, which I'm sure they did, then I'm very flattered. Never mind all of that, though. How was the dinner?"
"It was… good,"
"It doesn't sound like it was good. What's on your mind?"
"Morgan,"
"What about her? Did something happen?"
"No, well, I don't know yet."
"Then what is it?"
"I think she's been replaced."
His teacher shifted to a sitting position and leaned forward.
"Replaced? Do you think your real sister replaced her reflection?"
"I don't think so,"
"How can you be so sure?"
"She hasn't tried to kill me,"
"Well, maybe she had a change of heart after she figured out your flaw."
"I don't think my real sister is pretending to be a reflection of her."
"Then what do you think?"
"I think a daemon is pretending to be her."
The room went silent as his teacher sat up straighter and stared at him.
"Mordret,"
"Yes?"
"Be honest with me,"
"What?"
"Have you been drinking?"
"No, I haven't, I'm serious,"
"So am I,"
"What does it matter if I have or not? I'm 32 years old."
"You're practically an infant to someone like me, now, going back to what you said, she can't be a daemon because the daemons are dead; they died in the Doom War."
"I know that,"
"Then why are you saying such a thing when you know that?"
"Because her entire nature confuses me, I don't know what else to think other than that."
"Which Daemon do you think she is? Gods, that sounds absolutely ridiculous saying it out loud."
Mordret was silent for a moment before answering.
"The demon of imagination."
"The Daemon of Imagination? You think she's the Daemon of Imagination?"
"Yes, I do,"
"Have you lost your mind?"
"No, I haven't."
His teacher frowned at him.
"Then why do you think that?"
"Because of a story she told me,"
His teacher stared at him for a long time.
"A story?"
"Yes, that's right,"
More silence passed as the man clasped his hands together like he was about to a prayer and stared at Mordret with a blank expression.
"A story?"
"Yes,"
"Okay, okay, I'll entertain this wild theory of yours. It could be possible that you're right."
"You.. Wait what? You… You believe me?"
His teacher picked up the strange obsidian knife he always kept with him and twirled it in his hand.
"Of course I do, I am willing to hear out whatever you say, no matter how crazy it is. I am the most open-minded person in all of Mirage City, after all."
"So why do you think I'm right?"
"Because Mirage made seven reflections of herself and kept two of them in the palace of imagination so that they could maintain it. The only issue with this answer is that she took five of her reflections with her when she joined her siblings in the Doom War."
"You said there were seven. What happened to the other two?"
"No one knows; they were likely destroyed beforehand by something. So it couldn't be her reflection. At least that's what I was told by them."
Mordret raised an eyebrow at the last part.
"Told by who? Who's them? One of the nine?"
"Of course not! Someone as great as me would never be associated with those lunatics!"
"Then who was it?"
"Quit asking questions and let me ask one of my own. I already know most of your former teachers' powers, but what about his supreme ability? You never told me about that."
"Because it's the worst one,"
"What does it do?"
"I don't know if it's his supreme ability or transformation, but it allows him to project himself into the mind of a person mentally. He can also use it to enter their dreams as well as their memories and torment them that way. Whatever wound he deals to you in your mind will reflect on your body in the real world."
Instead of looking weary of the information, his teacher put his hand to his chin.
"How curious, I wouldn't be surprised if that weren't his supreme ability. The ability itself reminds me of someone."
"Who?"
His teacher chuckled.
"An old friend of mine, who had a steed whose attribute allowed the creature to travel through dreams as well. It makes sense that he can enter memories as well, considering he's the heir to the heart god. The god of souls, memory, emotions, hunger, and growth."
"What were their names?"
"Lightless Heaven, he was better know as the Shadow Lord and Nightmare, that was his steed. Lightless took his own life, and his steed went mad with grief for his master. So the steed decided to put himself into eternal slumber to dream about his master forever."
That was…. Tragic.
"I'm sorry,"
"Don't be, what's done is done."
Mordret remained silent for a while and decided to change the subject.
"Teacher, you once told me that you went to retrieve two people who had fallen to corruption in the tomb of Ariel? But you never told me who."
"Because I thought you knew already."
"I don't,"
His teacher was silent for a moment before he smiled. Oddly enough, it was nowhere near as bright as usual.
"They were the same people whom I befriended in the eternal city, Daeron, The Serpent King, and his daughter, Princess Windflower."
If you couldn't tell already, I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and no, Mordret's teacher is not Noctis. Noctis is dead. Trust me, I would never lie to you all :)