It was breaking dawn, and Eunbin was mentally exhausted after hours of fighting for her figurative life and being interrogated by Veil, Silent, and Revel. She had failed to convince her sisters that nothing was happening between her and Master Sunless. But thankfully, most of them had left, save for Helly and her other ascended sisters, who were still on Eunbin's bed, holding pillows close to their chest, talking excitedly about this supposed Mysterious "lover that was Master Sunless. It was strange; most people had forgotten that their mother had more than seven daughters.
Instead, many assumed it was just Eunbin and her six sisters who transcended alongside her, but this was wrong. The rest of their sisters were still Ascended and, as a result, were not as recognized as the daughters of their Mother, Ki Song. It was a shame, but they could do little about it. Eunbin suddenly wondered if Master Sunless had any siblings or if he was getting as many problems from his assistant as Eunbin was with her sisters; she shook her head at the random thought.
Here she was thinking about him when the young man was probably working diligently on her Memory with a million things on his mind. Eunbin did have plenty of other tasks at hand, like their new ally, The Lord of Shadows, who, sooner or later, they would have to bring to Ravenheart, that eerie man. Eunbin wasn't even sure there was a man under his terrifying mask. She was torn from her thoughts when she felt several pokes at her sides from her sisters, who were staring at her with broad smiles. What were they still doing here?!
"Go, be gone! Shoo shoo! Nyx, Divinity, Whisper, and Hel! Get out." The four of them left with feigned sad expressions on their faces. Lying on her bed, Eunbin thought about the Enchanter again. Surely, Master Sunless wasn't going through this much trouble. But she did wonder about something. How did Ascended Sunless' assistant go upstairs when the cottage was only one story? "How strange, I'll ask him; he seems open."
***
Sunny was currently in a predicament. It was Day Eight, and he had already finished Eunbin's Memory on Day Three, but Sunny had no idea what to name it. The first enchantment was that the Memory could turn into whatever shoes and clothing the wielder found most convenient and comfortable; the second enchantment made it so that whichever footwear they did choose would make absolutely no sound, and the third enchantment was camouflage, allowing the wielder to blend in with any surroundings. Now that Sunny thought about it, He had the perfect name! It was so obvious. The memory had camouflage, made no sound, and was ideally suited for stealth!
"I'll call them Sneakers!"
He was wearing a proud smile; he was a genius! His smile faltered when he felt Gloomy staring at him like he had grown two heads. Gloomy rapidly shook his head at the name, signaling that he disapproved. Sunny rolled his eyes; what did that Gloomy guy know?
"Fine! You don't like it? Then, how about the Silent treatment? Yes, that's perfect!"
Not bothering to ask for his Shadow's opinion, he went into the dining area, and just in time, as the moment Sunny found a suitable name for the Memory and walked in, he saw Eunbin come through the front door of the Emporium. He would never admit it outwardly, but he somewhat enjoyed his conversation with the Enchantress days ago. It was pleasant to have someone else to talk to other than Aiko. There was nothing wrong with his impishly cute assistant, but he could never talk about anything other than money because everything else wasn't interesting to Aiko. But then again, all he did was talk business with The Enchantress, which was still something.
Sunny greeted her with a polite smile and bow.
"Lady Eunbin! Welcome back! If you follow me, I will show you your memory."
Eunbin smiled; she was just like his best friend, that damn archer Kai! Why did they both have to be so damn beautiful?! She spoke in her usual alluring voice,
"Hello again, Master Sunless. I am excited to see what you have made. Please lead the way. But I do have a question."
Sunny smiled while leading her through the dining area and into the room where he stored the Memories he made for customers. "Do tell."
Prompting Eunbin to walk beside him.
"Six days ago, when we last met, just before I was about to depart, your assistant seemed to go upstairs, but this place is only one story, if I recall correctly. Or I could be going mad; who knows? "
She suddenly smiled at Sunny, and it took every ounce of his will not to trip. Luckily, they reached the memory storage; it wasn't the storage; it was simply for show.
"Well, that's because this cottage is an Ascended devil; it can be as spacious as I like, mainly because it depends on the capacity of my soul, but more on that later. Here it is, in all its glory, Lady Eunbin."
Sunny stopped in place, pretending to ponder when he was trying his best not to flinch from using that word,and turned his focus to a small, simple silk box. Looking at the princess, trying to ignore her disbelief, he gestured to the box. Eunbin raised an eyebrow and gave him a long look.
"Oh my! A small rectangular box! You've truly exceeded my expectations, Master Sunless. Well done indeed."
Sunny didn't need to feel her shadow to sense the mirth behind her words. Nonetheless, he played along, staring at the box again.
"Yes, I do not boast, but I have outdone myself. I'm glad you recognize talent when you see it, Princess Eunbin! I mean, look at the beauty in front of you! It's magnificent." He could feel her smile.
"Yes, it is a beauty. The box, of course,"
Sunny realized that she was staring at him the entire time. Was there something on his face? He secretly felt Gloomy in the shadow of the door, so he looked through his shadow to check himself, then inwardly shook his head. He had no idea why she was staring at him like that. For whatever reason, the moment he thought, he felt Gloomy, trying to slam his head into the wall, but seeing that it wasn't working as intended and harmlessly passed through the wall since he wasn't manifested, he aggressively pulled at his hair; instead, that shadow had significant issues. He was acting like his younger brother, Crazy! What was this guy's problem?
Sunny moved to open the lid of the small box, revealing a palm-sized, stylish red button. Eunbin stared at it curiously and then eyed Sunny, clearly wanting elaboration. He brought it closer to her.
"This is a Charm Memory. It's called Silent Treatment!"
Eunbin's smile didn't waver, but he saw it grow slightly forced; due to their height difference, she had to lean slightly down to meet his gaze.
"Master Sunless, if we are to do business together like this in the future, please do me a favor; for both our sakes, never name anything again. Have your assistant take care of that part. But I digress. What are the Enchantments?"
'Huh?' What was that supposed to mean?! The name was perfect—this woman had no taste in names, that's all! Of course, he wouldn't have dared say this aloud, possibly ruining a potential partnership.
"Well, there are three enchantments. The first allows you to wear whatever clothing and footwear come to mind, anything at all. The second allows your footwear to make no sound whatsoever. And the third is camouflage. I'm sure I don't need to explain that to you."
Eunbin looked impressed but tried to play nonchalant about it. She took the button from the box and transferred it to her soul, and then sparks of light appeared on her body. Less than a second later, she was wearing a stylish red suit instead of the red dress she had worn when she had walked in. When she saw how it had changed to exactly what she wanted, she gave a much too dazzling smile at Sunny, summoned a substantial pouch of coins, and then handed it to him. Sunny somewhat pretended to be taken aback, with his eyes widening. However, some of the shock was genuine, as he didn't expect such a large payment for something so trivial in Sunny's eyes.
'Goddamn, we've struck gold, Aiko!'
"Lady Eunbin, thank you so much. I wasn't expecting such a large payment!"
The Princess shook her head. "Nonsense, I figured I would compensate you for giving such short notice, and besides, this is nothing, and if you keep this up, then there will undoubtedly be more where that came from. Unfortunately, I will not stay like last time; I have important matters to prepare for and attend to. Besides, if I stayed as long as last time, we would cause a misunderstanding with your girlfriend, and we wouldn't want that now, would we?"
Girlfriend? Did she think he was dating Aiko? No, he had already told her that she was his assistant. So, where exactly was this coming from? He felt the need to clarify this for whatever reason.
Sunny smiled. "No, we wouldn't, except she would not misunderstand because she does not exist. I have no girlfriend."
He watched her captivating face turn into a surprise, and quickly regained composure. Then, strangely enough, she smiled as if she was happy about something else.
"Really? With a face like that? My apologies for the assumptions, Master Sunless; though I am shocked, I was sure that you were a taken man. Surely, you've looked in the mirror to know where I'm coming from." Luckily, she seemed to speak primarily to herself, so he didn't have to answer those two questions.
Sunny looked away for a moment, then back at her. "I wouldn't know since I tend to avoid mirrors whenever possible, but I won't hold you up any longer than necessary. I hope whatever you are going to do goes well!" He then bowed to her.
Eunbin nodded. "As do I; this person is quite the unfriendly sort. I will see you later, Ascended Sunless; I will have an offer for you when I get back, so be ready."
She left the Emporium with a smile, leaving it again in silence. He left the room and went into the kitchen to make coffee. Once that was ready, he picked up the mug, entered the dining area where Aiko had appeared after Eunbin left, and saw that she was taking inventory while floating in the air. She greeted him with a smile.
"Hey, Boss, you're doing well with Beastmaster. You should court her, or one of the other sisters, while you're at it, so we'll have endless money!"
He gave her a long look. "You mean seduce?"
She responded with a shrug
"Who cares? Wait, don't leave, boss! It was a suggestion, but I still think you should do it!"
He walked onto the porch and closed the door behind him.
Sunny wondered when the Song sisters would arrive at his citadel. If he were lucky, it would be a few days at most; if not, then tomorrow, which was not ideal. But alas, there was nothing he could do about that. His avatar in God Grave was wasting enough time, and that guy had to prepare.
***
Lonesome Howl, Eunbin, Hel, Revel, and Silent Stalker, along with four Blood Sisters, were walking through the eerie temple towards their new Enigmatic Ally, Lord Shadow. Luckily, he had the Enchanted torches this time, signaling that he was already expecting them. Once they reached where they were the last time they visited, they saw the shadows surge, and a pitch-black table appeared in the middle of the main hall right in front of them. All nine of them glanced at each other, and the blood sisters took out maps, awaiting the arrival of the master of this temple. Eventually, Bin grew restless after a few minutes and presumably moved to get The Lord of Shadows. Before she could leave the table, a voice resounded from behind Lonesome Howl, and she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard his sinister voice, but instead put on a facade of annoyance.
"Welcome"
He then silently moved to stand beside her, only for Lonesome Howl to notice he was wearing another mask, well, it was more of a helmet than a mask. It was featureless and only had a thin line stretched across the helmet, presumably serving as his visor. But all that mattered to Lonesome Howl was that it was less frightening than the other mask he wore previously, but it was still equally as eerie..
"Well, it took you long enough. What were you doing, polishing your armor?"
He stared at her silently, and each passing moment made her uneasy. Thankfully, he turned his attention to the table. Then spoke in his usual emotionless voice
"No, I was looking at my tree; it is not doing too well considering the lack of sunlight."
He had a tree? This man, or whatever he was, had a tree? Was it an Enchanted tree? Or a mundane one? Lonesome Howl didn't know the answer to her questions or how to respond to his statement, but Hel did.
"One of our sisters can help with that if you want, she has an aspect related to plants!"
Lord Shadow glanced at Hel and nodded, then turned his attention to the table once more
" I would appreciate that."
Hel smiled at the response. While Lonesome Howl wondered why he was staring at the table so intently, the shadows surged once more before she could ask, and a map formed from the table. The Blood sisters stared at it momentarily and slowly put their maps away.
"Oh, right, a sleeper who was unfortunately sent here told me of two other sleepers trapped in this Death Zone below me before you arrived. It was quite the nuisance, but I took care of them and got rid of them. They are gone now."
The nine stared at him with dark expressions of shock, and Bin frowned.
"When you say you got rid of them, you mean you killed them, right?"
Lord Shadow, to everyone's surprise, shook his head. "I sent them to your mother's domain; I am not a babysitter. Did I not mention that?"
They let out breaths none of them knew they were holding. Bin's frown deepened, though.
"No, you didn't."
Ignoring Bin's expression, Lord Shadow pointed at the map. They then discussed where the battle would take place, which was on God Grave, where they would set up camps in the nameless temple, and the saints possibly setting their anchors here, which Shadow immediately declined due to not trusting them. Lonesome Howl learned a few things during this visit. He was unkind but not as heartless as he tried to make himself out to be; otherwise, he would not have rescued the Sleepers, whose names they now knew: Ray, Fluer, and Tamar. Lord Shadow then made his opinion on the war clear.
"I knew the Great Clans did not like each other, but this is madness, and this impending war is ridiculous."
One of the Blood Sisters forced a smile, "Lord Shadow, so that you know for future reference, we are representatives for Clan Song."
He wordlessly turned his gaze on her, to which she suddenly became very interested in the Marble columns.
The Map dissolved into Shadows, and The Lord of Shadows started to walk away, but stopped when Lonesome Howl called out to him.
"Wait! You'll have to come with us this time."
He turned around to look at her. "Why? What for?"
Lonesome Howl raised an eyebrow. "You need to learn how to navigate Raven Heart, and of course, you need to meet our Mother to have an official position in our ranks."
He said nothing for an extended period, then tilted his head. "What? When?"
Lonesome Howl grinned at the fact that she finally seemed to stump him."Right now. Come."
Bin huffed but smiled, "Yes, yes. But let's make it quick, shall we? I have somewhere to be after this, so Chop chop!"
Silent rolled her eyes. "Your boyfriend can wait a bit, he'll be fine. Not that he deserves your time in the first place, we still have yet to meet this man, Bin."
Bin struggled to maintain her smile and composure in front of their ally. After a few moments, she eventually took a deep breath.
"We are merely acquainted, not lovers, not friends, just acquainted, nothing less and certainly nothing more."
Silent waved Bin off dismissively. "Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, Bin."
They continued to bicker while all nine of them, plus Lord Shadow, were walking out of the temple. Walking side by side, Lonesome Howl saw The Lord of Shadows and Revel glance at each other. Her ears picked up Lord Shadow, letting out a long sigh.
"Tell me, Lightslayer, is the bickering always like this? Because for someone who is called a Silent stalker, she sure does talk a whole lot."
Revel nodded and surprisingly let out a short chuckle, "Yes, she does, doesn't she? And yes, it is, but not necessarily about this topic; usually, it is just trivial things, arguing as siblings do. Why?"
"I am curious and bored as well. Nothing more."
Revel eyed him curiously. "Hmmm, not even about how your interaction with our mother will go. Or my sister? You've been eyeing Eunbin like a hawk this entire time."
Lord Shadow shook his head, "No."
Revel shrugged, clearly not convinced. "If you say so."
They all stopped, and each of the saints pulled on their anchor to the waking world, taking a Blood sister with them, and then went back to the dream realm and transported themselves to Raven Heart. Immediately, once they were there, the shadows around them grew deeper, darker, and colder as if greeting their master.
Eunbin took the lead in guiding the group towards the castle where their mother resided. She looked around as if she hoped to spot someone, presumably the gorgeous master Sunless, whom Bin repeatedly denied as her Boyfriend.
Lord Shadow silently looked around for a moment and then straight ahead once more as if he wasn't impressed by what he saw. Make their way closer to the castle. The Mysterious Man turned his sights to the place they were approaching. Soon they reached the doors, upon opening them, the warm air was overtaken by a chilling and oppressive presence, with the reason sitting on the throne, their mother, who had two dead sleepers by her side as usual. The corpse of her Mother's eyes scanned the group, her gaze landed on the Lord of Shadows, who bowed deeply to their mother. The Reclusive Saint had long switched back to his Demonic Mask.
"Ah, Lord Shadow, Welcome to Raven Heart. You may stand, I take it my daughters did not give you too much trouble?"
The Lord of Shadows stood up and shook his head. "No, not in the slightest, I very much enjoyed their company."
'Huh?' he certainly didn't show that he enjoyed it or give any indicators! Either way, Lonesome Howl knew this would be quite the experience.
Mother smiled. "That is an interesting mask you have there. I can't help but wonder what the heir of Shadow is doing with a mask of Weaver. Tell me, young man, how did you acquire it?"
Lord Shadow briefly touched the mask. "It was given to me by a very close friend, and I knew them very well."
Mother nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer. "Well, now we know where the shadow lineage has been all this time, you are in possession of it. It runs through your veins, correct?
Lord Shadow stared impassively, calm and collected as usual. "That is correct, I have the Shadow Lineage."
Even though she was her daughter, she still trembled from her presence. Meanwhile, this man, aside from bowing, didn't move a muscle! It was outrageous!
How could he be so calm?
***
Sunny was anything but calm! He had decided to wear Weaver's mask to keep his secrets safe, but with how things were going right now, he would end up possibly having another Lord Mongrel situation! Why was this Woman asking so many damn questions?!
Ki Songs alluring lips twisted into a smile once more. "Ah, that is excellent to hear. That alone will put you at the rank of general. You are dismissed unless, of course, you have something else to ask?"
Sunny was forced to nod "I do."
'Goddamnit! Damn Mask!'
Ki Song seemed to like what he did. "What is it? Do tell."
He did his very best not to Shadow step out of there."I wonder if you plan on wedding me to one of your daughters."
He felt the women's shadows flinch and saw Ki Song raise an eyebrow.
'Ah, I'm so dead, damn this mask!'
Author note: I want to write and release more than one Chapter per week but work is kicking my butt:,)