It was a beautiful day in Ravenheart. The wind gently played with her long black hair, her calm and confident steps making her carmine colored dress move naturally, clinging to the curves of her slender figure.
As she walked through the streets of her home, she noticed the gazes of the inhabitants and always returned them with a slight smile. It was her duty as a Princess to present herself cordially before the masses. She also had to maintain her reputation, at least within Ravenheart.
Outside the citadel it was another matter entirely and she did not care what they thought, for that reason she was considered one of the most feared Saints in the world.
Currently Beastmaster was on her way to visit her sister, Seishan at the clan complex in the Walking World. Whenever she had free time to visit her, she did so. Although it was not very often that she could.
Bin was one of the busiest people in the world. Being a Saint and in charge of the logistics of Ravenheart, she did not have many days off. But curiously today was a different day.
Her mother, under the excuse that she was "overwhelmed," gave her the day off to spend however she wanted, and for that very reason she wanted to visit Shan, whom she had not visited in a couple of weeks.
Her other sisters did so from time to time as well, with the exception of Revel who never left her cave and spent her time reading novels. Bin did not understand her sister's obsession with reading those things.
A couple of years ago she had a brilliant idea. Obviously it was not hers, but if people saw her doing it they would associate it with her due to her reputation. The idea was that when she was in one of her cafes, her favorite hobby, instead of using her communicator like everyone else did, she would read a novel or book.
Her black eyes almost seemed to shine as she imagined the headline of the news "Princess Beastmaster of the Song clan, as an example for the masses, reading in public!"
Obviously for any normal person this would not make sense, but being one of the few Saints in the world and also belonging to one of the great clans, this type of news always helped increase popularity.
She even fantasized about meeting a handsome young man on one of those occasions, but for the moment she had neither the time nor the luck, much to her sadness.
Returning to her plan, a couple of years ago she asked Revel what she recommended to start reading and she, with an expression of happiness she had never seen on her cold face, recommended a few. But upon reading the names of the novels Bin lost her motivation to read them and discarded her plan.
The first was called "Transmigrated to the First Generation with an Overpowered Ability." Bin felt like vomiting when she read it, but it was not worse than the next one "It Was Not Part of the Plan to Fall in Love with the Dark Villain with Childhood Trauma, Disproportionate Powers and Communication Issues But Here We Are."
What is wrong with Revel? How can she read that and why is the title so damn long?
Fortunately she had arrived at her room inside the castle, went to the dressing room and changed into another dress of the same carmine color and focused on her tether. Seconds later she was at the clan establishment in the Walking World.
The establishment was gigantic, completely reinforced and run by countless mundane people who worked for the clan, a few Awakened and even the occasional Master.
She continued walking calmly through the corridors. Whenever she crossed paths with an employee she stopped for a few seconds to greet them and then continued on her way.
Minutes later she was in front of the room where Seishan's capsule was. Opening the door slowly, she walked to the side and sat elegantly on the sofa in front of it.
Her sister was still sleeping with the same expression as always, the same one she had had for the last eight years.
Bin still remembered the day she said goodbye to her sister. It was on that same Winter Solstice and at that moment her mother had already adopted all her sisters, but only she, Seishan and Revel had experienced their first nightmare.
After that she found a citadel one month after traveling alone through the Dream Realm and returned to Ravenheart. By that time Revel had Awakened as well and they were anxious to see Seishan again.
To their sadness years and years passed and her sister had not returned. Now all the sisters except Shan had become Saints, while she continued sleeping and fighting for her life wherever she might be.
To avoid becoming emotional, Bin took out her communicator and searched for one of the novels Revel had recommended. In the end she gave in and found an interesting one fairly quickly.
It was called "Coffee and Waffles for a Princess."
It was not exactly a novel. Revel had also introduced her to the concept of "Fanfics" and this was one of them. It was about a young man with delicate beauty who looked like a porcelain doll who worked as the owner of an emporium and ended up falling in love with a Princess who visited his shop quite often.
Curiously for Bin, she felt quite attached to the character of the Princess.
She did not know how long she had been in that state reading the fanfic but because it was so good and she was so focused she did not notice the lights of the capsule in front of her beginning to turn on and off.
She only lifted her gaze when she began to hear the capsule making noises and moments later its lid began to open slowly.
The air left her lungs upon noticing this and in one second she was standing beside the capsule with her eyes on the verge of tears. The communicator flew out of her hand from the sudden movement and seconds later it was heard crashing against the wall and shattering into pieces.
Obviously Bin did not hear this since in front of her, her sister was opening her eyes after almost eight years.
Seishan slowly opened her dark eyes, as if just learning how to do so and the sight that greeted her was the beautiful face of her sister Eunbin only centimeters away from hers. She tried to support herself on her shoulders to rise to the same height but did not manage because a pair of arms wrapped around her and squeezed tightly.
Perhaps even a bit tighter than necessary because in the opposite way she opened her eyes, the air left her lungs upon receiving the hug. Even so she returned it because she missed her sister.
During the embrace she heard her sister say "I missed you Shan."
That brought a smile to her face but it immediately disappeared because she was running out of air.
"Bin I cannot breathe!" she said with what little strength she had left.
That caused the fascinating sorceress to release her from the hug but she kept holding her at shoulder height.
With her beautiful face and tears running down her cheeks, Bin tried to put on a serious expression.
"Why did you take so long! I missed you so much."
Before responding Seishan began to turn her head around the room and noticed that Sylvie was not with her, then she spoke in a serious tone, "I will answer all the questions later, now let me put something on because I am completely naked and I need you to go to the Gateway to pick someone up."
Bin wanted to protest but one thing she always knew about Shan was that when she spoke in that tone she had to listen.
"What does the person look like?"
Seishan explained the appearance of the person and she headed toward the Gateway looking for a woman approximately eighteen years old, average height, with yellow eyes and long choppy pale wheat colored hair, and supposedly she had two horns rising from the sides of her head.
Moments before reaching the destination she heard a commotion right in front of the Gateway and when she arrived she noticed the presence of almost ten Awakened with summoned weapons pointed at exactly the person she had to find.
"Identify yourself and what is your purpose here," one of the guards said in a threatening voice.
The girl had her arms raised and was wearing a black outfit with small white and gold details.
"My name is Sylvie and I came accompanied by Lady Seishan," she said.
"Do not lie, Lady Seishan has been asleep for almost eight years! I warn you to stop playing dumb or we will take measures," another guard warned.
When Sylvie was about to respond again Bin arrived at the scene. Releasing a bit of her Transcendent presence, all the guards turned toward her and lowered their heads.
One of the guards said, "Princess Beastmaster, we encountered this intruder in front of the Gateway."
She simply smiled at the man and replied, "At ease guard, I will take care of it from here."
The guard simply nodded and stepped back, then turned around and returned to his post while unsummoning his sword that had been pointed at Sylvie seconds earlier.
Bin looked at her tilting her head slightly and then smiled at Sylvie, "I am Song Beastmaster, my sister sent me to get you." A few seconds later she continued, "Follow me, I will take you to her."
Sylvie nodded and replied, "A pleasure to meet you, my name is Sylvie." She made a gesture with her hand. "Lead the way." She finished smiling.
The sorceress nodded and they began to walk toward Seishan's room. During the walk she asked,
"Just out of curiosity, how did you appear here?"
Sylvie took a few seconds before answering, "To be honest I do not know very well how it worked. Seishan explained that it was something related to the power of Domains?"
"I see, that makes sense," she replied.
'Why did Shan tell her about Domains? ' Bin wondered.
This made her perspective about Sylvie change. Bin knew that Seishan would not tell just anyone about the existence of Domains unless they were someone important. Now she began to see the new girl with different eyes.
Eventually they arrived at Shan's room again. Entering it they found her sitting elegantly wearing a red dress that clung to her perfect figure in the right places, the color of the dress matched the intense red of her lips, this image became even more intense and difficult to look away from once one took into account her rare gray skin that accentuated her breathtaking beauty even more.
When Seishan's and Sylvie's gazes met, both smiled, the first stood up from the sofa and both began to walk toward each other. When the distance was reduced they embraced.
"I am glad it worked," Seishan said.
Sylvie smiled. "Yes, me too." She continued, "I would not have liked to stay in that place."
They separated and she added, "It would have been awful." Looking away slightly she asked, "Any news about Arthur?"
At that moment Sylvie opened her runes and searched for Arthur's.
Name: Arthur Leywin
True Name: Paragon of Purity
Rank: Dreamer
Sylvie turned a little pale and tried to communicate mentally with him.
She got no response.
"It still says his rank is Dreamer and I cannot communicate with him," she replied.
Seishan swallowed but eventually said, "He will come back, we both know how strong he is."
"Yes, you are right."
At that moment Beastmaster who was still present cleared her throat. "Who are you talking about?"
Both looked at her and eventually Seishan answered, "Arthur is someone we were with in the same place before returning." She continued, "He stayed fighting a Fallen Terror while the rest used the Gateway to escape."
Bin raised an eyebrow. "A Fallen Terror? As a Sleeper?"
Sylvie smiled at the question. "Yes, a Fallen Terror as a Sleeper."
Before her sister could continue interrogating her, Seishan said, "Bin, would you call all our sisters? Meanwhile Sylvie and I will take a shower and meet you there."
The sorceress narrowed her eyes and put on a silly smile upon realizing why she asked that. "Yes of course dear Shan, see you in Ravenheart then." Seconds later she pulled on her tether and disappeared.
"How many sisters do you have?" Sylvie asked.
"Many. Judging by how Bin is already a Saint, I suppose a couple have also ascended."
After that Sylvie went to shower and a while later came out perfectly fresh. Although her body in the Walking World had been recently created, it was more of a psychological action to feel clean.
Next Seishan also showered and soon after they began walking through the establishment in the direction of the Gateway to travel to Ravenheart. Shan warned Sylvie that she might get dizzy when crossing it and both passed through.
Obviously Sylvie ended up getting dizzy but Seishan held her before anything happened.
During the rest of the walk toward the palace dining hall, Seishan told Sylvie what to expect and about her sisters' personalities.
Minutes after walking through the palace corridors they arrived at the dining room door. Before she had time to open it, it opened on its own and in front of both of them were seven figures sitting around a giant table positioned in the center of the room. The table was completely illuminated as if the rays of light entering through the windows were drawn toward it.
However she did not think about anything else.
Five pairs of arms wrapped around her at the same time, squeezing her with a force that almost made her lose her balance. The perfume was familiar, the warmth of their bodies, the sound of agitated breathing.
They were her sisters.
"We missed you Shan," Moonveil said in front of her with a soft, almost trembling voice.
She was delicate and beautiful, with a slender figure and a charming face that seemed made of porcelain. Her white hair fell over her shoulders and her eyes reflected a pale glow as if they stored the light of the moon after midnight. She did not squeeze desperately like the others, but her hands were firm on her back as if she feared Shan might vanish.
"Eight years is too long," she added in a whisper.
Before she could respond someone squeezed her harder, almost lifting her off the ground.
"I thought we would never see you again!" Howl exclaimed laughing through tears.
Shan turned her head and met a tall woman with a strong figure filled with barely contained wild energy. Dark hair fell messily and her eyes shone with shameless confidence even now. Her smile was wide showing white teeth in a mix of joy and defiance.
"I would have gone to look for you myself if I had known where you were!" she added with a half laugh although her voice broke at the end.
After that cold fingers touched her cheek and when she turned she found Selene (Silent Stalker) looking at Howl with both eyebrows lowered.
"Do not speak so loudly," she said.
At this reproach Seishan let out a soft laugh. Selene was so discreet that even in the middle of the group hug she had almost not noticed her. Of average height, thin, with black hair that fell straight down her back. Her honey colored eyes shone with a soft but distant intensity. Her presence was strange. She was there and at the same time seemed to want to disappear.
Now looking at her she added, "It was difficult to see you in that capsule for so long without being able to do anything."
"Difficult?" a dramatic voice interrupted from the side. "It was difficult seeing visions of her corpse seven different times."
Seishan recognized that voice instantly.
Hel observed her with her large bright eyes. She was shorter than most, small in figure and almost fragile. Her face had an innocent air that contrasted with the intensity of her words. Her black hair framed her pale face and in her eyes there was a strange deep calm.
"In one of them the palace was burning," she continued with total serenity and began to gesture with her hands. "In another the sky split in two. It was quite dramatic I have to say."
She laughed again at how easily Hel spoke of catastrophes as if commenting on the weather. That rapid shift between absolute terror and tranquility was what made her so unsettling and fascinating at the same time.
"But you survived," Hel added, shrugging slightly. "So I suppose those visions no longer matter."
Finally when she lifted her gaze she met Revel.
She had black hair, dark eyes that seemed carved from pure obsidian. Her fair skin contrasted with the natural coldness of her expression although at that moment a slight smile softened her features.
"You took your time," she said simply but her voice was softer than usual.
She looked at each of them, her chest tight with an emotion she did not know how to contain.
"I missed you too," she finally managed to say with a broken voice.
In front of the group of hugging sisters was Beastmaster sitting elegantly at the table and at her side was a puppet of her mother.
Moments passed in silence while the sisters hugged and in those moments Sylvie did not know where to stand.
She was standing a few steps behind the group with her hands behind her back and she could feel a gaze that seemed to analyze her to the soul. Obviously the gaze was from the other figure sitting apart from Beastmaster.
Eventually the girls broke the hug and moved toward the table but Seishan and Sylvie remained standing in their places.
Noticing this Ki Song using the puppet said in a maternal and affectionate tone, "Welcome back dear Shan, you were greatly missed."
Seishan smiled at this and replied, "Thank you mother."
She then shifted her gaze to Sylvie again and asked, "And who is this lovely lady? A friend of yours Shan?"
"Yes she is a friend of mine," she responded immediately and Sylvie turned to look at her but she continued, "In fact I would like to ask you all for a favor."
All nodded in unison.
Ki Song said, "Anything you need, daughter."
"I would like Sylvie to be our new sister."
The sisters looked at each other and all shrugged simultaneously. Their mother looking at them said,
"Daughters, do you want a new sister?"
Howl was the first to respond, "If Shan trusts her I do not see why not." She continued, "I do not object."
Moonveil and Selene added at the same time, "Same. I do not object."
Hel instead said, "I have always wanted a little younger sister!"
Revel looked at Sylvie and asked, "Do you like to read?"
Sylvie, surprised by the question, gave a small jump. "I suppose?"
She simply looked at her with narrowed eyes and then gave a nod.
"I do not object."
There was silence after that and Ki Song looked at Bin who had not spoken yet. "Eunbin?"
The sorceress shrugged and made a gesture with her hand. "What else is there to discuss? I already met her and I liked her. There is no reason to reject her." She continued, "Besides she has a good sense of fashion, look how she matched her outfit with her horns. It is so adorable!"
Sylvie had grown accustomed to no one mentioning her horns in the castle that it took her by surprise and she even got a little scared even though it was a compliment, but seeing how most of the sisters and even Ki Song tilted their heads as if thinking and then nodded, that fear evaporated.
Precisely Ki Song spoke again, "Perfect then, welcome to the family." Before Sylvie could say thank you she raised her hands and clapped twice.
Immediately a lot of chefs entered with freshly made food and began placing it on the table.
Seishan began walking toward it but seeing that Sylvie had not moved she took a few steps back and grabbed her hand. "Join us to eat something."
Sylvie nodded and sat with Seishan to her right while Hel was to her left.
Before they began eating, Ki Song raised a glass and said, "Let us make a toast for the new member of our family." She lowered her gaze and focused directly on Sylvie. "For Sylvie," she said while taking a sip.
At the same time all did the same and immediately began to eat.
The table quickly filled to the last corner. Trays and more plates piled up in an almost exaggerated quantity, the steam from the food perfumed the air with warm savory aromas.
Savory preparations clearly predominated in a large proportion compared to desserts. After all, only Hel truly liked sweets so they had prepared a small special section for her.
However to everyone's surprise Sylvie began to try some of those sweets and ended up enjoying them quite a bit, leaning toward Hel to comment in a low voice how much she liked them. Hel smiled with evident satisfaction and soon both were immersed in a lively conversation between bites.
Meanwhile Seishan calmly recounted everything that had happened to the rest, describing the events from the beginning, answering questions and clarifying doubts. The general murmur mixed with the sound of glasses and cutlery until suddenly Revel rested her elbows on the table and asked,
"And who is this Arthur you mentioned?"
Seishan answered without hesitation, "He is a friend." Then she directed her gaze toward Sylvie. "Do you have any news about him?"
Sylvie gently shook her head. "No for the moment."
Seishan sighed slightly.
"Then we are going to have to go to the academy."
"Why would you want to go to the academy?" Howl said frowning.
Before Seishan could answer Ki Song spoke calmly, "There were reports of many Sleepers awakening at the same time a couple of hours ago. I suppose it is for the same reason as you two?"
Sylvie nodded. "Yes and the one who made sure all of us escaped from that place was Arthur." Then she made a slight gesture opening her runes in front of them. 'They still say he is a Sleeper.' Her voice trembled a little when she lifted her gaze to Seishan. "You do not think he stayed behind?"
Seishan held her gaze firmly. "I do not know Sylv. I hope not. In any case we will find out at the academy."
At that moment Bin spoke from the other side of the table.
"I will take you."
Moonveil added without hesitation, "Me too, I want to spend more time with Shan."
The rest refused with resignation explaining that they had tasks to attend to. And moments later the small group was already at the Walking World complex. Getting into a PTV that looked more like a limousine the driver began heading toward the academy.
During the ride Eunbin took the opportunity to tease Seishan about Arthur and Moonveil to get to know Sylvie a little better. The trip lasted about half an hour and eventually they were walking through the academy gates.
Sylvie found everything strange because she had never been there. The change she had been experiencing in the last hours had been brutal. The castle had its comforts but they were nothing special. In contrast the clan palace was the complete opposite, a lot of luxuries she had never imagined, not even in Arthur's memories had she seen something similar. And now the academy that looked like a city within a city left her even more shocked. It's a different experience to see it through Arthur's memories than to see it in person.
The four entered with not too hurried steps even though two of them were dying of nerves. Beastmaster and Moonveil walked behind them calmly and it was noticeable that they were suppressing their presences.
When they arrived at the Academy courtyard they noticed there was a party and as soon as they entered the gazes of those present moved toward the four of them but mainly toward Sylvie and Seishan.
In a moment they found themselves surrounded by people thanking them but at the same time they could not help but notice there was another emotion behind the eyes of most of them.
Seeing such a commotion Beastmaster and Moonveil could not avoid being surprised mainly because no one was paying attention to them. Two renowned Saints being completely ignored by a bunch of Awakened.
After a few minutes of greeting people and moving through the crowd as best as they could they ended up meeting Kai and Effie. Both were a little apart from the rest and were talking calmly between the two of them.
What surprised them was that the huntress Effie, whom they had literally seen kill Nightmare Creatures with her own hands, was sitting in a wheelchair.
Upon exchanging glances Kai smiled happily and said, "Lady Seishan and Lady Sylvie it is a pleasure to see you again!"
Both returned the courtesy and stayed chatting for a while, eventually introducing their sisters Eunbin and Moonveil and when Sylvie was about to ask about Arthur a commotion from the stage caught their attention.
Turning their gaze they noticed how a Professor from the academy climbed onto it and when he was about to begin the speech he noticed the presence of the two Saints present.
Awakened Rock straightened and said, "Saint Beastmaster, Saint Moonveil, it is a pleasure and honor to have you present."
Beastmaster smiled slightly and stepped forward. "The pleasure is ours, please continue with the speech you were going to give, ignore our presence."
Moonveil added, "Besides the heroes of the day are the Awakened present, we would not like to steal the spotlight."
Awakened Rock nodded and began his speech about what awaited them now that they were Awakened and what the world expected of them. He also congratulated them for achieving the impossible and finally gave the floor to Nephis.
She climbed onto the stage wearing Starlight Legion Armor and with her typical expression began to speak. She commented on all the difficulties they survived and adventures, she also spoke about the companionship they had achieved and about the lessons they learned during the journey.
Once the speech ended the number of Awakened present could not hold back any longer and they all began to ask three questions.
"What happened to Lord Arthur?"
"Where is Mr Sunless?"
"Where is Caster?"
Nephis took a few seconds waiting for them to calm down and then answered, "At the top of the Crimson Spire Arthur and I were fighting together against the Crimson Terror and eventually we killed it." She took a breath. "Shortly after Sunn… Sunless reached the top to help us but it was too late."
She lowered her gaze slightly. "When we started descending toward the Gateway the tower began to collapse and eventually I ended up unconscious." She lifted it again but there was an expression of guilt in her gaze now. "They carried my unconscious body through the Gateway and I suspect it ended up collapsing leaving Arthur and Sunless in that place."
There was a moment of silence but eventually everyone began to say that if there were a pair who could survive that place it was precisely those two. Their King would not give up trying to return to civilization and moments later they all began to chant both of their names.
Everyone except Sylvie and Seishan. The first was on the verge of tears and the latter was completely shocked to react. Seeing their sisters in those states Moonveil and Beastmaster hugged both of them and stayed like that for a while.
Eventually it was Sylvie who broke the embrace and without saying a word almost ran toward Arthur's room. Thanks to the memories of him that she had she knew which room it was.
The other three followed from behind and moments later they were standing around the capsule that held his sleeping body.
Unable to hold it any longer Sylvie broke into tears and Seishan shed a couple of tears simultaneously.
Seeing this and not wanting to interrupt, the two Saints left the room and immediately Eunbin began to search for something on her communicator.
Inside the room there was a person who felt her world break while the other felt as if a part of her detached from her own being.
Minutes must have passed like that but eventually they left the room and found their sisters still waiting there.
It was Sylvie who spoke. "I would like to visit Arthur's family."
Beastmaster smiled at this. "How lucky you are to have an amazing sister because I already know where they live, come let us pay them a visit."
Seishan and Sylvie were happy at this and followed her. Sylvie already knew where they lived but the fact that Eunbin thought of it without her having to say anything filled her still damaged heart with joy.
Avoiding the Awakened who stayed for the party and reaching the PTV the driver began heading toward the new house of the Leywin family.
Almost half an hour later they were in front of the house and it was an address Sylvie did not have in Arthur's memories. She did not give it much importance, they probably moved, she thought.
Seishan rang the doorbell and a minute later a girl around fourteen years old with grayish brown hair and brown eyes opened the door.