Kaelen stirred from his sleep and woke - his eyes were slightly dry.
He sat up on the bed, his body still felt as if it were still asleep, as it was incredibly groggy, which Kaelen was completely to blame for.
The last time he had 'slept' was in the hallucination of a perfect life created by the Lost Life Titan, he had then mentally experienced the whole party, then having to kill himself
Immediately after he fought and killed the titan, spoke with the first breath and woke up, he was placed on guard duty and killed an awakened devil after he ran all the way there and, as a result, suffered the backlash of his flaw
All in all
He had punished his body for long enough without going to sleep—so it took that 11-hour nap it needed.
In fact he was not actually planning to sleep yesterday but seeing the comfy-looking tree and ground and after Marshmallow laid on his lap he decided to put his plans on hold for a little bit longer
Waking up from the bed, he stood on the ground and stretched his joints, making a satisfying popping noise—he let out a satisfied groan.
He turned and made the bed but before walking down, he did something stupid just for fun
He removed his clothes and placed it into the satchel before dismissing it and immediately wrapped a manifestation over his body and became air again
In this form Kaelen was completely invisible—things like sight, smell and hearing would not be able to detect him, nor would touch, as the hand would just go straight through him
But that did not mean he was undetectable
That was what he was going to figure out now—could he be detected in this form? And would a master be able to spot him?
He started to float down the stairs, simultaneously practicing his ability to suspend himself in air to mimic the ability to fly
Immediately after reaching the bottom step, he felt an aura be emitted
Jet turned her head and looked at the stairs, her icy blue eyes were looking directly in his direction
Even though she could not see him, she could feel him there
That was the 6th sense that someone who had dealt with hundreds of creatures, even thousands of them, had.
Kaelen did not want to take his chances of being mistaken for a wraith and immediately materialized the [Life Seal] armor, forming it around him as well.
"My bad." He raised his hands up in surrender
Jet seemed to deflate slightly as she looked at him—"That's a risky thing to do around a master."
He chuckled apologetically. "I wanted to test if you would be able to notice me in that form so I could tell if a nightmare creature would also."
Jet understood his reasoning and gave him a little bit of advice—"Most nightmare creatures and awakened have the ability to sense when something is watching them. I suggest you don't use the ability to turn invisible to sneak up on an enemy."
Kaelen sighed—it was a bit disappointing.
"But in most cases sleepers won't be able to tell, and even some awakened ones—the ones who don't actively hunt."
Kaelen didnt feel any happier—he did not want to kil humans if it was avoidable
"Thanks for the advice, I'm going to go take a shower." He said and walked over to the door but before he entered, he summoned the satchel and pulled out another bag of chips
"Catch" He said and threw it at her
She did just that and popped it open and thanked him absentmindedly, already throwing one into her mouth.
Kaelen watched as she licked the crumbs of her lips and felt heat crawl up his face
'She's 10 years older than you, dammit.' He chastised himself and walked into the bathroom.
'Wait...am i forgetting something?'
His eyes narrowed, he could not remember what he was forgetting
He walked into the bathroom and noticed its large space
Forward from where he was standing were the sinks, 4 of them against the wall. They had a large bar of soap in a holder as well as a bottle of hand soap
'...I wouldn't have bought any if i knew there would be soap here,' he said, lamenting the waste of credits
Looking to his left, he saw the lockers with steel benches in front of them.
Walking over, he opened one and saw a bunch of stuff—a sealed loofah to wash his body and a sealed toothbrush; there were hairbands in there too
'Nice!' He said, throwing it into his bag, and he also took 4 toothbrushes and 4 tubes of toothpaste and loofahs.
He had bought a few, but he was going to take more—especially if it was free and sitting there.
He looked through the locker and saw a few neatly folded tracksuits and towels; since the supermarket did not have any of those, he took a few as well—but only the tracksuits that fit him
'Is this stealing?'
He knew it was, but hey, it was for a worthy cause!
He moved to the sinks and brushed his teeth thoroughly, making sure they were cleaned properly
He then turned to the right, where 4 shower stalls were located; he walked in and closed the door behind him—he looked and saw a full bottle of shampoo and conditioner there along with soap as well.
He placed the loofah onto the soap and opened the water
From the shiny silver showerhead, steamy water flowed down onto him, covering his body entirely causing him to let out a satisfied sigh
One might think it, but his innate ability did not cause him to become water right now, the same way that simply existing in the waking world did not cause him to become air
But it did activate in the way it was intended to when a manifestation was not wrapped around him, Kaelen could breathe in the water perfectly fine and he could see as well and the temperature did not affect him
He stood there for a few seconds before he moved and placed a large dollop of shampoo into his hands before lathering it into his hair and washing it out
He turned off the water and applied the conditioner, and while that set, he began to wash his body.
He had just finished rinsing the soap of his body and moved to wrap the towel around his waist to move out but just as he was about to open the shower stall door, he heard the door to the room open
'Huh?'
He used a manifestation to become air and all the water on his body fell off instantly, drying him. he dismissed it and materialized again, stepping out of the stall.
When he did, he suddenly realized what he was forgetting
'Today was the day that Sunny woke up.'
And indeed it was - that also meant that today was the day Sunny was going to become a slave.
Kaelen saw the short frail boy standing in front of the locker, his scruffy black hair made brighter by his sickly pale skin
He paused for a few seconds, a whirlwind of thoughts stirring in his mind and even more emotions—but from the moment he chose to come here to the station, 3 days before Sunny woke up, he had already made the choice
"I've been waiting for you to wake up."
Sunny turned around, holding a towel—his eyes were a deep black and his face had an expression as if he were hoping Kaelen would not notice him
"Uh... Yeah, Master Jet told me the situation." His tone was not friendly at all, in fact, it was rather defensive
Kaelen sighed inwardly—'He is trying to get me to leave him alone.'
But Kaelen was not going to do that, he was going to do something that made him the most intimately connected being to Sunny in the world
Two worlds even
"That's not what I meant."
"...What?" Sunny said in a confused tone,
Kaelen spoke slowly walking forwards—"Listen, Sunny, I need you to understand what I'm about to do, and even if I can't say why right now, I want you to know it's for your own good."
Sunny's body stiffened, and he backed away subconsciously—"How do you know my name?"
"Because I know you," Kaelen said, stopping 6 steps away
"How?" Sunny asked
His brain must be telling him that Kaelen was insane, that he was going to try and kill him if only he knew how much worse what Kaelen was going to do was
"I am not from here." Kaelen replied
Sunny's eyes narrowed—"What? Were you not born in NQSC? No—better yet, why are you telling me this again? How do you know my name?"
Kaelen sighed—"That is not what I meant; what I'm trying to say is I'm not from this world."
Sunny was clearly getting annoyed now—"Are you from the dream realm or something?"
'I forgot how he was at the beginning.' Kaelen sighed, knowing how much worse things were going to get
"No, I'm... I'm from a world where this was all a story."
Sunny gritted his teeth and forced out a smile—"Are you insane?"
Perhaps Sunny thought that it was his flaw
Kaelen too gritted his teeth—no matter what way he tried to get this done and no matter which way he tried to say it, this was going to result in anger, rage and everything after
"I'm not, Sunless—Everything I'm saying is true. I know you, and I know your future ... and I know your past—all of it."
Sunny's pupils narrowed, and the hairs on his body appeared to stand on end as if his body realized something his mind did not
"I am only trying to make your own and, by extension, my future better, so I hope you can forgive me in time."
Sunny had already moved
It seemed that he broke the toothbrush he was opening and was planning to use it as a weapon—he was a resourceful kid, more than almost everyone his age
But his very nature had a flaw—the Shadow Bond
Kaelen sucked in a breath, his eyes holding a flurry of emotions
"Stop...Lost from Light"
He watched as Sunnys eyes widened and he felt as something between them was forcefully connected
The now sharp stick that was once a toothbrush stopped a centimeter from his neck. Sunnys eyes were as full of emotions twice, no, quadruple the amount Kaelen was feeling
"You! How?!"
Sunny growled, his body frozen.
Kaelen could have ordered him to stay still and remain quiet, to not get Jet's attention, but even if he had the bond, he was not going to use if he didnt need to—instead, he would use force
He placed his hand over Sunny's mouth and pushed him onto the steel bench, pinning him down
"Sunny I need you to listen to me." Clearly he did not want to, but Kaelen was stronger
"You don't know me, I get it. According to the spell, I just turned you into a slave, but i need you to calm down and i need you to hear me out ... please."
Kaelen added that please in order to not make it a command but rather a plea
He continued to hold Sunny down, who was flailing in his hand and attempting to bite his hand, which Kaelen had turned to stone with a manifestation
It took more than 10 minutes of that before Sunny even stopped moving
And even though he did—the murderous intent reflecting in his eyes—well, Kaelen was glad Sunny couldnt inflict injury based on intent.
"...Are you going to listen now?"
Sunny nodded slowly and Kaelen loosened his grip—he continued to hold Sunny down but released his hand on his mouth
Sunny opened it and it seemed that he wanted to say something but nothing came out so he just gritted it again
"Sunny, I'm being repetitive, but I need you to believe me if you can—you can hate me; that's perfectly fine and beyond understandable, but you need to know I'm not lying to you—pull up your runes and look at my attribute [Unbound] if you want to know if I'm being truthful."
Kaelen stayed there for a few seconds and waited for Sunny to do just that
He watched his expression shift and guessed immediately what it was; he saw the runes saying the words.
Master: World's Soul
Kaelen waited patiently allowing Sunny to come to terms with it
Naturally being bound to Kaelen a complete stranger was terrible, horrible and devastating in every possible way, but it was not comparable to being betrayed by someone you believe to be your friend
Kaelen had no friendship with Sunny, but Sunny would build one with Nephis so the effect may have been devastating, but it was not devastating and heartbreaking
"...You really aren't from this world?"
Kaelens eyes lit up but dimmed seeing the murder in Sunny's eyes.
"Yeah... I died and well, I got transported here." He said softly
"Then how the hell do you know me—how the fuck did you know my true name and the bond, how?!"
He ground his teeth again and hit his head onto the steel bench
Kaelen looked at him with sadness but determination
Sure, he knew this would make Sunny hate him, despise him and loathe him, but he would adapt to his situation as he always did. if Kaelen did know the future, that meant he was a great asset
Not to mention that - Kaelen had the knowledge to not simply make his life better but also make him stronger
"Because i thought this was just a story I read—clearly it was not." He said slowly getting off Sunny.
Sunny sat up, his lip twitching as if trying to hold back a snarl
"Thats how i know everything, and Sunny, I assure you—the knowledge i have and the powers i have is not just going to let you grow stronger and achieve your goals but it can allow you to do so while lessening the pain. I know things about the future that I plan to use to help YOU."
Sunny sat there slowly, silent
'I dont know if this will even work.'
"Here this hopefully will be the only order i ever give you" Sunnys eyes narrowed more his snarl coming out fully - after all that this boy was going to order him around... should he kill him, he looks distracted...
"You dont need to listen to anything I say; you dont need to follow anything i say unless i specifically use your true name when saying it."
There was an odd silence between the two
Sunny continued to be silent not saying a word, his shoulders lowered as if he had come to terms with what had just happened, but of cource...
"...The moment i have the opportunity, I will kill you."
Kaelen smiled - "You can try"