I glance at sunny's face. Grim, I notice it change. Survivors most likely, their not going to be welcoming i can day that for sure. Their hate is going to be placed on us, more likely sunny and cassie. Sunny because he brought that mirror shard inside, cassie because it will look like she set this all up.
That doesn't mean I'll be off the hook, if anything I'll be the one with the most eyes on them. It will look like they played their part but I haven't played mine yet. If prince has been watching us then, cassie if he wants to keep us away from information.
Sunny if he wants to keep us from fighting back. Me if he wants to fuck with us. I step in front of sunny and cassie looking where they'll be coming from. His face twists, in worry. So it will be a master, they'll likely both be alive anyways.
Can I kill both of them.... probably not. Can sunny killed one? Probably. There's probably also other survivors and prince. God damn it
"S—sir Pierce! Thank the gods… we weren't sure that anyone was left alive!"
Another 10/10 performance by sunny. I notice cassie get rigid. Is he going to attack? He's far enough away i can counter him i think.
"Well, well. What do we have here…"
Sparks fly as he summons echos, what echos does he.... the human echos. Human echos are weaker then normal people. Could I take on a master, all of the humans echos, and multiple awakened?
Nope, no chance, well maybe but sunny and cassie would get caught in the cross fire.
"I see that the three of you are still alive."
Sunny looks around clearly scared. What do I do?
"Oh..... about that..."
I keep my eyes on pierce but it seems that was a bad idea as suddenly there's another heat signature next to sunny. I look back seeing a woman with a knife to his neck.
"Don't move"
Something is wrong.... is it that i didn't notice her heat signature? I notice her eyes look at mine then look at cassie.
"Yes yes! I am not moving!"
I put my arms up, better to lessen the danger on them.
"Sir Pierce… I would appreciate it if you could give us shelter and explain what is happening. We barely escaped the cage you put us in alive, and being met with such hostility is not how we imagined finding fellow humans again."
You can say that again, or well I was pretty sure they'd be hostile but still.
"Give you shelter? That is a good joke. Give me one reason to not kill you both, instead."
That's definitely a hostile tone if I've ever heard one
"...You can try. You will certainly succeed. But not without paying a cost. Awakened Sunless, Awakened Heat Seeker and I might not be Ascended, but we did not receive our designations for nothing. How many of your men and Echoes will we take to hell with us?"
I'm glad she's able to fake a calm tone so well.
"...How many can you spare?"
Pierce seems about 2 inches from attacking us. He tries to speak but is cut off by the other master.
"Enough. We can't spare anyone, or anything. I know this and you do too, Pierce. These three are strong… they will be of use. We will take them with us."
He glances at her, then back at us. He wants us dead, real badly too.
"What if that thing is hiding in one of them?"
I glare at him, he glares right back. God this guy is annoying.
"They have been locked in the lesser cell for weeks… between all of us, these two are the least likely to have been taken. Besides, we have just destroyed his previous vessel. There are no mirrors in the great hall, so…"
She sighs then she glances at cassie, sizing her up.
"Come. It is… not safe here. We must return to the inner sanctum as fast as possible."
Pierce looks pissed the hell off but she is right about us being needed. He gets rid of those.... things. The woman who had a knife to sunny's neck walks past winking at him....?
"....Lucky you. Maybe next time."
Hadn't she been at the gate? She definitely seemed a bit different then but all this time had passed and she's been through hell so I don't think its that weird.
Still it is weird. Singer finally floats in, having taken her sweet time. She desummons herself and I desummon my satchel, that I had given her.
We walk into the inner part of the temple. 20 something people remain. He had killed almost 80 well trained battle hardened awakened. I can see why Pierce hated us.
"Sir and lady wish to see you"
Oh how fun. We get lead to a table with the two masters.
"The two of you will follow simple rules. From now on, you are under our command. You will follow any order either Sir Pierce or I give you. You will not use any Memory or item that can be used as a mirror inside the inner sanctum… or outside of it, if you wish to live. You will not conspire against your fellow soldiers or tell a single soul about what you have seen here in the Night Temple. If you disagree, leave right now."
It seems she's the reasonable one of the two. That makes sense
"Awakened Sunless… please, describe how you came in possession of that piece of a broken mirror. This time, in detail."
I glance at sunny. The other master leans forward and almost spits out his words like he'd rather just kill us
"And don't even think about lying to us, boy! You won't like the result!"
Sunny does a fake expression of fear. He's.... fine at it, if you know him well then its easy to tell if you don't then no way are you seeing though it. Sunny goes into mock fearful detail about meeting the mirror beast. After the two go silent with grim expressions.
"So one of his Reflections managed to escape, after all. To think that it had been so close all this time…"
Before sunny can speak i do.
"But why didn't you kill it? The mirror beast was pretty well known about at the sanctuary. How had word not gotten back to you about it? And better yet how was Sunless even able to bring it in?"
Piece gives me a look of pure hate.
"...The inspection was meant to prevent mundane mirrors from being brought into the Citadel. No one could have expected that there was one more fragment out there, somewhere. If we knew… you would have been killed as soon as you set foot on the Chained Isles. As for what that fragment was, it's not for you to know. We knew of the rumors but they didn't line up with what we knew."
Foolish. Completely foolish. I notice sunny shiver, i still think its their fault.
"With all due respect, Sir Pierce… we have the right to know. Or rather, we need to. How are we supposed to fight against the threat if we don't know what it is? What, exactly, have we unleashed? What kind of a creature is capable of causing so much death and destruction?"
He's about to say something else stupid when the other cuts him off
"...She is right, Pierce. They need to know, if they are to be useful."
She looks away staying silent, i notice the looks the other one is giving me, seems I'm on his hit list.
"The creature that you have unleashed… that monster… is Mordret of Valor. The Prince of War…"
So that's why he's called the prince of nothing. His father disowned him, that father is probably a.... A something.
The leader of Valor. Another reason to not trust the great clans. That's a bit rude isn't it. Wait prince of war? That has a meaning I'm not aware of, yet. Cassie speaks in a surprised tone of voice, she doesn't get those a lot
"....of Valor?"
She sighs again like each word is taking years off her life.
"Yes. Prince Mordret was… is the eldest son of Saint Anvil, one of the patriarchs of our great clan. As a young child, he was given as a hostage to a… powerful ally. To keep peace and ensure prosperity for all. No harm was meant to come to him. And it didn't… or so we thought. Years later, the prince was returned to us as a valiant Awakened, to our joy and relief."
He's looks away clearly not too happy about all this. Also to your joy and relief? What bullshit.
"But our joy was shortlived. Soon, it became apparent that the boy had grown up to be… disturbed. He was cruel, uncaring, and had… certain impulses that couldn't be controlled. The more powerful he became, the less human he seemed. And he was powerful, incredibly so. More powerful than any Awakened was supposed to be."
Oh, oh he's so a divine aspect user. Glad I didn't tell a damn soul. I would have gotten got, or used as a weapon against prince, and frankly i am not that clever.
"In the end, Prince Mordret left the clan and, breaking the command of the elders, sought out a Seed of Nightmare to become a Master. Knowing that he was too dangerous to be allowed to Ascend… or even to walk freely in the waking world… it was with a heavy heart that a decision was made to eliminate him. Monster or not, he was our responsibility, after all."
now he's our problem too.
"If that Mordret was so dangerous… why didn't you just kill him? Why go to all this trouble and imprison him, instead?"
You know what good question sunny! Why not.
"...Do you think we haven't tried? His physical body was destroyed… his spirit body, too. But that still didn't kill him. No matter what we attempted, that thing simply refused to die. Many of my comrades did in the process, however. In the end, we could only bind him… and even that was only possible with the help of the Saints."
Wow the master seems pissed at a good question. I lean forward
"His aspect, we will need to know it to help you"
I get another glare.
"It has to do with mirrors, reflections, and souls. Prince Mordret is able to travel through mirrors and control the reflections. His second Ability… his second Ability, though, is much more terrifying. If one looks at him through any form of a mirror, their soul will be devoured, and their body will become his. By taking a vessel, the prince inherits their Memories, Echoes… and even their Aspect. But also their Flaw — similar to the being Awakened Sunless had encountered on the Reckoning Island, which was one of his creations."
She touches the Anvil around her neck, its clearly comforting in a way.
"...Pierce and I are immune to his powers. The rest of our soldiers, though, are not so fortunate. He had been taking one after another, using their bodies to kill the rest. The latest vessel of his was especially dangerous, since it possessed an Aspect that allowed him to create puppets out of… out of the dead bodies of our brothers and sisters. We managed to destroy the vessel, but the prince himself got away… just like before. We weren't able to use the binding and imprison him again."
I wave my hand
"So me and sunny are the targets."
Sunny freezes glancing at me. That master grins, clearly enjoying the idea of my fear
"See you finally understand. Yes… don't think that you can reason with that beast or make use of the fact that his hatred is aimed at clan Valor, and not you. Currently, there are only five people in this Citadel whose bodies can allow him to eventually return to the waking world. Welthe and I cannot be taken, and neither can Lady Cassia, due to her blindness. Which leaves… you two."
I drag my hand over my face
"So, invasion of the body snatchers. But its one very sadistic guy and we are trapped here. Great."
I take out a strip of fabric and I tie it around my eyes. I am not having no freaky bastard in my soul. I can tell I'm being glanced at with heat sense.
"So, uh… what is the plan, then?"
Yeah what is the plan.
"We won't try to venture outside and try to bind that monster again. At this point… at this point, we don't have enough numbers to trap him anymore. However, he also has no way of infiltrating the inner sanctum, and the vessel that made time his best ally is destroyed. So, we will just wait. In about a week, maybe even less, Saint Cormac will return. Then, Prince Mordret will have to face a Transcendent's wrath."
And so will we. Clearly, they'll kill us. At least she's not too happy about it as well.
"That is.... a good plan"
Not really
"Lady Cassia… if your Aspect brings you a helpful vision, don't hesitate to inform me immediately. Now, please go and rest, you two. Eat your fill… we all need to keep up our strength."
Soon we are eating, I had shoulder checked a wall on the way out. I eat some meat whatever, hey at least I don't want to throw it up. I feel cassie looking up at us
"what do think?"
I think I'm going to have to sacrifice myself for them but I won't say it because that upsets people.
"They are lying, of course. There is no way that Mordret won't get into the inner sanctum, somehow. He is too damn devious for that. I know it, and they know it, too."
Everyone knows it. Its more then obvious
"What is most likely to happen is that things are going to go south very soon. Welthe and Pierce will wait and observe for a bit, and then probably try to use us as bait to lay a trap for him."
I nod smart, that's one of the best plans.
"How do you know?"
"Because that's what I would have done."
I eat, I miss the food a few times but I'm getting used to it. Is this what cassie has to go through?
"So what do we do?"
I turn my head to her
"For now? Nothing. Let's wait and observe, too. Rest and eat, just like we were told to. Restore our strength. Then… then, we'll see."
Sunnys voice is calm but there's fear in there.
Not long after we go to bed, or they do. He's already in here, but who....? Its not the masters clearly, its not us, its one of the lost. So what choice is the best....? The woman. That would explain her odd actions and..... the slightly off heat signature. Plus that would let him do what hes needs to without being seen.
So money is on her, how, I don't know but why is clear. Not that I'll tell them a damn thing. So he seems smart, he needs to be unpredictable, and going after me and sunny is very predictable.
Who's not expected for him to go after? Its the master with the charm. All he needs to do is get the charm off then he can take her body. How is a mystery but what isn't. Then... then what is his plan for us?
The next morning prince had killed those who stood guard. Okay he's fucking with them too now, or well he's been... oh it doesn't matter. I keep a close eye on the woman, or a close heat sense. I need something to do. I am very bored. First let's see, essence let's train that. Then what?
I hear sunny and cassie talking but its fine. I keep my eyes closed training my essence. We are bring looked at with fear by the lost. This going to take a while. Sunny hands me a bowl of whatever.
"You awake?"
I turn my head to him, oh I have a idea
"you awake"
Sunny stays silent for a few seconds
"... are you messing with me."
I shake my head
"No. I can't use my eyes and i needed something to do. So I'm trying to mimic stuff."
I hear sunny let out a breathless laugh
"Thats stupid"
The next day, more dead. He's really ramping up. The injured too, a clear message. More then that he's trying to make himself look crazy. Smart but god damn annoying!
The yelling starts soon, oh so it was to make us the target of the losts suspicion. God i want to kick prince's ass. Their yelling a lot, they all are. Can I kill them all?
"Stop, you wretched bastards! Who ordered you to attack?! Anyone who moves, I'll kill myself!"
Anger issues or what. Soon we get dragged off into a tiny room.
"Aren't you going to take off that blindfold?"
I snort
"No. I don't want to give him even a chance. Plus, he has to pay to see these peepers"
I hear sunny huff, its funny, just a bad situation.
"Wow what about us"
I mimic him
"wow what about us?"
I feel him step away
"Stop doing that. Its freaky."
I shrug.
"What I'm bored. Don't tell me you have anything better to do"
Ue shakes his head then stops
"Why are you so calm?"
I lean on the wall
"I just don't feel connected to my body right know you know?"
"No. No I don't know ■■■■"
About two days in sunny seems.... more on edge. He walks over to me
"Hey... uh preemptive trade?"
I tilt my head and I lift my hand.
[You have receiv-
I turn my head to sunny
"Sunless."
He sits down
"Its a.... uh new trade. Not connected to the last one"
I check what he had given me.
[Drop of Ichor]
He wouldn't have given me this without reason. Which one of us did he think wasn't going to survive this?
We get almost dragged down and down and down. Into the bell tower. Inside is that master and his echos. Wow what a show out.... what is prince's game here?
"Whatever you think of doing… I would advise against it."
What is his plan? How does he intend to get the charm off of her? How.
"W—what is going on? Master Welthe?"
What is his plan? Running through the options here, he may by chance actually want me or sunny. I doubt it, he seems like the smart type. The other master will know as so will the lost. So he needs them gone, I doubt he can take on both at once.
So he needs someone to.... sunny. Prince was likely watching us then whole time, now my shows of power haven't been as useful seeming as sunny's. Plus I don't doubt i looked like a idiot, I tend to act a bit silly after all. He's going to get sunny to fight the other one.
"No...."
No? Wait he needed the lost gone and, well what better time to do it then now? Wow, that's a simple plan. Get them to separate from the pack while making sunny spiteful to them, kill the lost, and get sunny's help. Wow.... then how to kill the saint?!
Oh god damn it this is all so annoying. Cassie gets thrown to the side.
"Kill them!"
As he rushes past i say only one thing to the dead man walking
"It was pretty obvious"
I get stabbed in the side I swing my arm destroying the echo that stabbed me and any others close to me i hear sunny rush forwards
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine! Go! There won't be another opportunity!"
His heat signature disappears. I turn my head to cassie.
"Do your thing ill need a minute."
She turns her head towards me then away grabbing the mirror prison and going after sunny as fast as she can.
With a scream i slam into master W, or what was her now prince. I latch onto his back with the ice claws and I start screaming PTV facts.
"Huh...? Well aren't you a delight to finally meet really meet ■■■■. I can't say its too unexpected for you to have done this"
It worked and the facts did confuse him. One of his hands reaches back to grab me, and I bite it
"Oh how feral of you my dear friend, and after I helped you in the sky below too"
He tries once more to get me off, having a screaming manic on your back isn't the best after all. But that arm is stopped by a pair of chains
"-"
"you really are such a unique echo. I have to wonder how ■■■■ even found yo-"
I kick off of him, i did kick him in the face, HA.
"Fucking run!"
I bolt towards sunny and cassie. He grabs her hand and we start running.
God damn it, everything hurts. I notice sunny groan and then he picks me up
"What are you doing?"
"That echo won't hold him off for long and you can't run right!"
Hey when did i gain these injuries....? I hear the sound of metal against metal and of those horrid screams from singer as the two fight. I feel as singer desummons herself
"Get ready!"
Then a truly devastating explosion goes off.
I summon flame as I take out a shabby bag i made while bored from my satchel. I lift it and ice shards with incredible heat inside fall in. I get up ignoring my wound as I wrap it in snow. I desummon flame not before i summon singer.
I give her a simple mental command, when about to lose desummon yourself. When she desummons herself these will all go off, no doubt prince will live, but such a sudden explosion would do some damage. I rush up the stairs after cassie. I need to distract him... how do I catch him off guard....?
We get pulled into a hidden side hall by cassie. We quickly get to a door and when opened the 3 of us are back at where the gateway was. I hear him walk under us.
"Oh my, Sunless, Cassia, ■■■■"
I really do hate this
"Oh ■■■■ didn't you promise me a crown?"
Oh I fucking hate this, does he think I'm that nice?
"Where are they hiding? I wonder...."
And we are pulled the hell right out of the hall.
We finally get to rest. Everything hurts. I do not in fact take the blindfold off. Not today. I check on singer within my soul sea, I don't look at anything else. She's pretty beat up, but she's mostly okay. She bows as words appear
"I did quite well to hold off the Prince of Nothing did I not?"
I check on flame who's just fine. No soul attacks i think. This is really annoying. I'm pulled up by sunny as I leave my soul sea. I huff
"Already?"
"Yeah.
We walk into the outer ring and....
"Oh there you are my friends...."
Oh not again. Why won't he go away? We start running once again. He's catching up, will i have to.... oh gods damn it i want to live! I feel the whole place shake as we are thrown down. Heat from outside makes its way in. The seal its gone- OH THE SAINT.
Sunny pulls us into side hall wrapping cassie's cloak around us. Wind, and a very powerful heat signature rushes past and the whole place is shaken. Sunny pushes us up
"hurry! To the gate!"
"To the gate"
We run finally getting out of that hell.
Everything feels like a blur. Its snowing out. I remember i used to love watching snow fall when I was young. It seemed so peaceful. Even if i had someone to play with in it though, i wouldn't have, I never liked the cold. It sometimes hurt, I almost got frostbite when I was a kid and I never liked it from that point on.
The saint is here and.... I can't hold him off. As I'm about to step in front of them another heat signature lands. Shielding us from that saint. My voice comes out quiet
"Saint Tyris?"
My ears are ringing. She's protecting us.
"....It's time for the three of you to go."
We run, and fall, and get back up and run again. Until in a thunderous boom the island breaks and we start falling. I grab them and I pull them close, it hurts to do so. We fall for some time before sunny speaks
"....See? We're not dead. Your vision was a bust, again."
I try not to laugh, it would hurt if I did
"How… how are you so calm? We are falling into the Sky Below! Not dead… yet!"
I laugh but its stopped by a fit of coughing.
"Come on cass, its not too bad. This time we have food and we know what to do....plus im sure sunny's been preparing"
I feel a familiar heat signature flying right at us, warm as it always is. We are grabbed
"Kai!"
I lay on the deck like a dead fish. They cook, i don't think I'm even like, in my body right now. I'm so tired.
"Here you go, doofus. Welcome aboard!"
I keep my eyes closed as Effie walks over
"Dork stop laying in the dark and come eat"
"Heh laying in the dark"
She seems annoyed. She then moves the lantern towards me and I hiss.
"Get that away. I've been blindfolded for the last, however long!"
She laughs as she walks away.
I sit upright as Saint Tyris lands. I wave at her, it hurts a bit to do so.
"Hello Saint Tyris!"
My voice is chipper. It feels like I just got snapped back into my body. I'm going to beat prince's ass! She's given some food and then I pass right out making a very loud thump.
For the rest of the trip I stay mostly resting. It seems my actions.... took a toll. But hey, us three lived! Plus I already blocked most of it from my memory. So it shouldn't be too bad.
Soon me and sunny show the cohort around the dark tower and to the ivory tower. Finally we stand in front of the nightmare seed.
"...Are you ready?"
It takes a while before cassie whispers
"What are we waiting for? It is… it is just the Second Nightmare."
Sunny laughs i wonder why. We walk into the seed finally starting our second nightmare.
[Awakened! Prepare for your Second Trial…]
[Six brave ones… welcome to the Nightmare!]
Six? SIX! NOT HIM AGAIN!