The cafe was filled with an overbearing silence as neither person spoke after that sentence. Sunny froze, slowly turning around to see a young woman wearing a cream colored suit with brown hair and eyes to match, smiling pleasantly at him. Her hands were politely clasped behind her back. Her smile reached the corners of her eyes, yet it gave him a high sense of uneasiness, like something was entirely wrong with the woman. Sunny peeked into her soul and was met with a pure and radiant core.
Sunny had hoped it was Silent Stalker, considering how she was staring him down like she knew he was Lord Shadow, but she hadn't quite figured it out yet. So Sunny knew precisely who the next person was in line to figure out his identity first—the Prince of Nothing. Sunny must've made a scowl because Mordret suddenly stepped closer, his smile widening.
"I prefer Master Sunless, which do you prefer being addressed as more? The Prince of Nothing or Mordret?" Sunny forced a smile.
Before the conversation could continue, he grabbed Mordret by the shoulder and pulled him into the shadows and into the Basement of the emporium, where it was certain no one would hear them.
Mordret seemed a little surprised but smiled nonetheless. "Oh my! So that's how that works. I can do the same, but only through reflections; shadows seem more reliable. How envious I am of you!
This is quite the collection of memories you have acquired of Saint Sunless. Now I know where the Winter Beast went—it was you!"
His voice bounced off the walls, echoing as he looked around as if truly fascinated.
"You never answered my question, Mordret." Sunny summoned the shadow chair, causing Mordret to frown subtly and return to smiling a moment later.
"I prefer the Prince of Nothing, but Mordret is fine when it comes to you, my dear friend! Oh goodness gracious! I was baffled once I discovered who you were under that mask. And to think the terrifying Lord of Shadows is the good-looking, harmless shopkeeper hiding under everyone's noses! Well done indeed!" Mordret gave him a small applause.
"How did you find out?" Sunny frowned.
"The Eyes Sunless. They say, The Eyes are the windows to the soul. And they are right! But I can take it a step further and look through the eyes of someone without taking their soul, and that's what I did, I watched through the eyes of the Song Sisters, specifically Song Eunbin, because she visits the most." Mordret pointed to his eyes.
"And when none of them were there, I took the body of a regular customer! Your food is absolutely delicious. By the way, you should think about expanding your menu beyond breakfast! Just a suggestion." He casually slipped the comment in as if he hadn't just said he killed someone, and continued speaking.
"I found it very interesting that a mysterious Saint shows up out of relatively thin air, making a death zone of all places his residence, and then you appear at the gates of Raven Heart not long after that, seeking a place here from Bastion." He eyed him curiously.
"How did you know about that?" Sunny looked confused.
"One of the guards was holding a small shard of glass that I was looking through. You know, during that small time, I was contemplating killing you when you walked through that gate because I thought my father sent you as a spy. Oh well! Water under the bridge!" He waved his hand in the air dismissively.
"Another clue that you weren't a Master was in our first encounter at the bench during Nightfall. I couldn't see you even when you were meters away from me. And so I started watching through your greedy assistant. And it was all but confirmed that you were a Saint until your second assistant Rain showed up and you told her almost everything about yourself, your transformation, and how you're Lord Shadow. Well, I don't need to go on."
"So you were stalking me." Sunny's frown deepened.
"Stalking? Sunless, I'm very hurt that you would accuse me of such a thing! I was not stalking you; I was simply gathering information on you from afar without you knowing. To think I would do such an act is very hurtful to my feelings!" Mordret, looking as if he had been punched in the gut, put his hand over his heart.
"That's called stalking." Sunny pointed out.
"If so much as lay a finger on Rain or Aiko." The shadows danced and darkened, causing Mordret to frown.
"Now, now, Sunless, I am not here for a fight, so rest assured that I will not kill Rain; she is only a mundane human, and they are useless to me. I will also not kill Aiko because she is simply too weak to be of use. If they weren't, I would have already taken them. Do you truly think that lowly of me?" He asked with a pout.
"Yes." Sunny nodded without hesitation
"Bah! Must you be so rude towards me? I've done nothing to you to deserve such treatment as far as I recall!" Mordret complained.
The Prince's expression went slack. He shrugged nonchalantly and returned to the topic.
"No matter, I am telling you all of this because we are allies. But moving on, the only other Saint I know that would be foolish and arrogant enough to live in a death zone is Changing Star, and even she is not mad enough to do so; she has a divine aspect just like me." Mordret pointed at himself
"You are so arrogant because you know you have the power to back it up. You see, I am a titan, so I can make seven reflections while you, on the other hand, have four bodies, meaning you have four cores, but that wouldn't make sense now, would it? You've had your aspect since you conquered your first nightmare. So, I think you are at least a terror if I'm correct? " His grin became eerily wide when Sunny answered his question with a nod.
"A third divine aspect wielder, how magnificent! Not only that, but it also makes sense where the Shadow God lineage went! We truly can be friends then!" Mordret chuckled.
"But I've said more than enough about me, what about you?" Taking a deep breath from all the talking, Mordret raised an eyebrow when the shadows flowed before him, forming a table and another chair, which the former prince promptly sat in.
"What about me?" Sunny quirked an eyebrow
"Well, I want to know more about you; our first date can't be one-sided." Mordret smiled politely
Date?! What the hell was this lunatic talking about?!
"What?!"
"What?"
"This isn't a date," Sunny scowled.
"Oh? Then it's a meet-cute," he tilted his head.
"No!" Sunny exclaimed, his face twisting, taking on a disturbed expression.
"Sunless, I am trying to have a conversation with you here. As two divine wielders, we could be unstoppable in a partnership. Why must we fight? You act as if I've tried to kill you!" Mordret pouted once more.
"Because you—never mind, what do you want from me?
Cutting himself off, Sunny questioned him.
"And quit pouting, it's weird to look at every time you do," Sunny grumbled.
Mordret took out an object from his pocket, holding it in the air. It was a piece of glass.
"Should you need me for anything, contact me through this. You do not need to say my name three times, just once. I had to tell that to Lonesome Howl several times." He scoffed absentmindedly, fixing his tie.
Sunny stared at the glass shard with a frown.
"Come now, Sunless, take the glass; it won't bite!" He stretched his hand out more with a smile.
Sunny reluctantly took the glass shard and pocketed it.
"Good. Now, let's move on to the other reason I am here!" Mordret clapped.
"Queen Song wanted me to contact Lord Shadow to arrange an ambush on Clan Valor. It will take place in a few weeks, so we have plenty of time to prepare. Who better than a creature like me and a shadow like you? You would not know this, but my father is the king of swords, and I want to kill him." Mordret stated simply.
Then he stood up and walked away from the manifested table, and Sunny watched with begrudging curiosity.
If it weren't so quiet, Sunny would have missed the almost inaudible sound of glass shattering, and suddenly, Saint, Silent Stalker, and Sunny appeared by Mordret's side. Both reflections of Sunny and Silent Stalker were wearing a pleasant smile.
"Now isn't that swell?" He bowed, and the three reflections moved in unison with him.
How dare that bastard make a reflection of his beloved Saint! And Sunny!
"Yes, very unique." Sunny grimaced.
"No, Sunless, your Silent Stone Saint is what's unique. A child of the prince of the underworld! One of Nether's most fabulous creations was once created to bring peace, but instead was made to rebel against the gods." Mordret observed his reflection of Saint with a curious expression.
"My friend, I must know how you acquired her?" He turned to look at Sunny.
"I killed her," Sunny said shortly.
Mordret shrugged while looking around with false fascination. "Very well, keep your secrets."
Sunny shook his head, standing up as well. He took a moment to check his surroundings to see if anything was out of place and started to walk upstairs. Mordret followed wordlessly, dismissing his reflections and giving Sunny a heartbeat to note that Mordret knew what Sunny was keeping in the basement.
Who knew what the fiend was planning in that twisted head of his?
Once they reached the main floor again, Mordret turned around, flashing a friendly smile at Sunny.
"My my! This was quite the tour, Sunless, and it was very informative indeed! I already feel that we've grown closer. I wholeheartedly think this could very well be the start of a beautiful friendship!" He smiled, holding his hand out to shake.
Which Sunny promptly ignored, getting Mordret to smile wider.
"Come! Let's take a walk. It would be a shame to waste such a lovely night like this cooped up inside!"
"Why now?" Sunny frowned.
"Now I see how you manage to fool people for this long. Do we truly need a reason to take a walk?" He scoffed dramatically.
"You pretend to be polite, but really, you are very harsh. It's like you're another Silent Stalker, stellar acting by the way, I genuinely don't know how you do it, you should be applauded. I could never pretend to be something I'm not! Not ever, it's just not in my nature!"
He had a hurt look on his face that would have fooled Sunny if he had not known the Bastards' true personality.
Sunny rolled his eyes. 'You goddamn hypocrite.'
"But my Goodness, a young man like you should not be so sullen!" Mordret shook his head with a sad expression and headed towards the door, and opened it halfway
"I will see you later, Sunless. Good luck." Looking out the window, he suddenly disappeared into the reflection.
Good luck? What did he mean by good luck?
Sunny let out a long sigh. Moving to go outside, he closed the door behind him and looked at the sky. The bastard was telling the truth about one thing.
The night sky was breathtaking to look at. Sunny set a destination in his mind and headed towards his workshop. He walked for quite a bit before he heard footsteps coming towards him.
Putting on the most polite act, he took a deep breath, thinking it was Mordret again. " Go away! I don't want you here," he trailed off.
He looked up to see—
"Very well, if I'm such bad company, Master Sunless."
Sunny sighed inwardly.
By this point, Sunny was utterly convinced he still had his fate.
'Goddamnit.'