A Long Night

Nephis POV

It had been a few days since "the incident" with Wyatt had occurred. Ever since then Sunny had left to his housing in the Dark City. He took a pouch and all of his Shards and left with almost no notice.

It was odd, but Nephis had learned that the best way to deal with any mess that those two create is to let them clean it up themselves. She was quite prideful of her newfound ability to ignore their shenanigans. She would've been prideful about her ability to forget them completely, but then she might accidentally remember them.

Currently, she was a bit bruised and battered, which was unexpected, because she should've been dead. That was the logical conclusion someone would make after seeing her walk into the Dark City alone.

What was even more unexpected was the carcass she had slung over her back. An animal multiple times her size, and enough to feed a great many.

This is what she had walked into the center of the outer settlement with. All eyes were currently upon the perfectly composed face of Changing Star. Of course the starving were only looking at the carcass, and calculating what they could give in exchange.

There were her friends who seemed worried on her behalf, and when Nephis saw them, her frozen face relaxed a little. To know they were still alive warmed her a bit, even if nothing should have killed them while she was gone.

In the center of the settlement square, where most trade is done, Nephis found a nice slab. Relatively clean, smooth, and most importantly, in plain view of at least a hundred outer settlement dwellers. This was where she placed her carcass.

It was a brilliant idea she came up with, although one that would push her to the test. To convince hundreds to depend on her. They would make perfect fodder for her escape from this desolate hell. If they were strong enough they could even be of some use against those three ghouls.

Currently there was a crushing silence. All eyes either on her meat, or on her Armor. The Armor of course contained the Crest of the Seven, which she learned was quite significant in these areas.

'Remember, strong, steady, confident. Just like a battle.'

With that she summoned her sword, and used it to cut up a small piece of meat. Enough for her and her friends, and Caster, to survive another day.

In a booming voice that covered all of the settlement square, she made one clear statement.

"This Piece!" She said pointing to the smaller piece. "Will Be Mine!"

The silence was deafening. After a dozen seconds Nephis was starting to feel a little embarrassment. Thankfully, someone spoke up.

"Does that mean you are selling the other piece? What is your price?" One of the starving dwellers asked.

"I am not selling it!" As soon as they heard that, the crowd showed signs of dismay.

"Instead! It shall be given for free!"

If the people was dismayed before, now they were downright shocked.

"What do you mean?! Don't take us for fools! Will you sell it or not?"

This was surprising, but not unexpected for Nephis. She knew they might not accept it so easily. She even prepared herself a little speech.

"Fools? When did I ever take you for fools? You all have done an incredible job in surviving this desolate hell we call the Forgotten Shore. But perhaps the fool is you. You who would so quickly assume malicous intent, when you have never even seen me before. All I can wish for is survival of all those who are here, so that your efforts do not go to waste. So that your comrades who have fallen will not see their effort go to waste. For we are all human, and the truest meaning of being human is not survival, but our ability to always strive for something greater."

It was all bullshit as far as she cared, but if it would get people on her side, then she would've said the exact opposite.

The one who heckled her earlier was not done yet. Almost nothing would have been able to stop his hunger induced rage.

"Who are you to tell me what it means to be human!?"

Looking him dead in the eye, he told the man simply:

"I am Changing Star. Of The Immortal Flame Clan!"

The settlement went silent again.

________________________

Wyatt POV

'[Of all people I would never have imagined you would bring the fight to her.]'

'(I'm not, Scurvy is.)'

The duo was currently perched up on top of a building that overlooked the territory of the Stone Saint. In the past few days they had studied the marching patterns of the Stone Soldiers and found it was not uncommon for them to patrol the area. Once they had figured that out, it was only a matter of time until they ambushed the Soldiers one by one. This was made all the easier by Scurvy's dark chitin hiding perfectly in the alleyways.

Perhaps they were strong enough to take on an Fallen Beast, but Scurvy was no normal Fallen Beast. Scurvy was a Shadow, infused with the powers of one hundred Memories, and a fourfold augmentation from Sunny and Wyatt.

All that was left was one lone Stone Soldier, grabbed from behind, and swiftly decapitated by a pincer.

Wyatt was silent for a few moments until he felt his face light up. As he wasn't currently in control, this could only mean it was Sunny smiling.

'[Got anything?]' Wyatt asked coyly. Quickly receiving a small snicker from Sunless.

'(Hell yeah. You were right.)'

'[Well don't just stand there twiddling your thumbs. Grab the Shards and summon her.]'

'(I've been meaning to ask but what do you need the Soul Shards for? You only put them in that damn book of yours.)'

Wyatt had managed to figure out how to work his new "Legacy" and it showed some interesting possibilites.

'[Do you want them?]'

'(Of course I want them!)' Sunny said instantly, knowing anything else would be a lie.

'[Sorry. Can I have them?]'

'(Sure.)'

'[Thank you.]'

At this point, they were finally able to see his new Echo as it was summoned.

A petite statue, slightly smaller than Sunny appeared before their very eyes. It's granite surface was a pristine white and its armor was a deep black, creating a visually stunning dichotomy.

What mattered even more however, was what would happen next. Sunny placed a hand on the Statues chest and... froze.

'[Is something wrong Sunny?]'

'(No, no, I can't I can't exactly say that. I'm juat reading it's attributes and... do you know anything about the last child of the unknown?)'

'[I might.]'

'(And is it anything you can tell me?)'

Thinking about it for a second Wyatt himself seemed surprised.

'[I probably can, this happened who knows how long ago. The last child of the unknown is Nether, the Deamon of the Underworld. He started a war against the Gods, which explains the need for creating soldiers like these.]'

'(Wow, so what happened?)'

'[I'm sorry but the Gods and Deamons are very mysterious, I don't even know all of their names.]'

'(I see. Well at least it explains why her weave is so different from Scurvy's. On that note I should get to transforming her.)'

Placing a hand on her chest, Wyatt watched closely as the Stone Saint underwent otherwise imperceptible change in her soul. The embers within her gone, replaced by shadows.

Saint was covered in a thick layer of shadows, and before he knew it, it was over, with hidden black flames being absorbed into her armor.

it was a marvelous sight to behold.

'[Hey Sunny?]'

'(What?)'

'[I would like to ask a favor.]'

'(What do you need?)'

'[I like piano. I'm sure you know this. But recently there has been a severe lack of those. And of course I can stop whenever I want, but... I try to keep my habits going. So...]'

'(Let me guess, you want to steal a piano don't you?)' Sunny said without a hint of humor in his voice.

'[Yes I want to steal a piano.]'

Taking a deep breath in, Sunny relented and decided that since he now had what he wanted, he would help Wyatt.

______________________

Currently, Sunny was on route to the BrightCastle. Wyatt however chose to stay within the Soul Sea. Not because he was tired, but because he was so busy. Previously he had done tests with the binder that he had recieved, and the results were nothing less than astounding.

Not "capable of working around his flaw by writing the novel in the Soul Sea" astounding, but astounding nonetheless.

He had also experimented with the Mantle of the Underworld and was underwhelmed.

After recieving the book, he had wondered in depth about the nature of the binder and why it had a mere four pages. It turned out the answer lie in the energy within his soul, or more specifically his Soul Core.

Through some mechanism that he wasn't able to notice, some of the energy of his Soul got converted into the pages that made up his binder.

Wyatt had wondered if it was Soul Essence, and so poured a bit of blood over it in an attemp to activate it's effects. But what blood he put simply fizzled out immediately, devoid of energy.

Something was being done, but there simply wasn't enough something to be noticable. After a bit more thought, he realized that the energy within his Soul Core was far denser than the essence hidden in his blood. Which was not to say Wyatt intended to take a risk like almost dying again.

In the end, he figured if the energy of his Soul Core was enough, and the energy of his Soul Core came from Soul Shards, then the energy of a Soul Shard would also have been enough. And he was right.

Smashing an Awakened Soul Shard almost instantly created a page. This was not like the previous pages either. The previous pages were weak enough to still be torn apart through great effort when in his Soul State. But a mundane Wyatt found himself completely unable to tear through this new Awakened page.

Strong pages were still a boring power as far as Wyatt was concerned, but now it was slightly less boring.

As he picked up his pen, and flipped through the book, he came across a page that reminded him of his second time writing in the book.

On it, in no uncertain terms, was the weave of the Pen, written out, in full visibility.

Memory: [Lost Truth]

Memory Rank: [Awakened]

Memory Tier: II

Memory Description: [They was said the quill was mightier than the dagger. They was said the dagger was mightier than the quill. In the end, they both fell. In the end, they were both forgotten.]

Memory Enchantments: [The Quill], [The Dagger]

Enchantment Description: [When held like a quill the dagger will assume the form of a quill, and ink will be plentiful.]

Enchantment Description: [When held like a dagger the quill will assume the form of a dagger, and blood will be plentiful.]

The whole page had been taken up by this visible weave of the Memory. This... This, was not a boring power. This, was the transfer of the incorporeal to a real plane. This, was game changing.

Or at least eventually it would be. Currently Wyatt was still busy writing the adventures of Unknown. Speaking of which.

[[I have figured it out, to replenish a page cost a meager Soul Shard. If this is the case then I shall always have plenty.

Truly I am an unfortunate man. Whilst I had heard whispering of an undue teleportation into a broken realm, I had not been made aware that I too would have suffered this fate. I assumed that my not being of this realm would have saved me from this event.

In my month long jaunt of the strange land of new technologies, I had uncovered a device that would give me great help in finding 'Noctis' as the demon had ordered of me. A device that could accept verbal orders of help and immediately located what I needed. Sadly to maintain my secrecy I had to commission the help of Sunless and together we found an area named the "Chained Isles" guarded by a Transcendent named Tyris. According to Sunless this was one of the nigh-divine beings I was told of by the demon.

The Sanctuary of Noctis had been found. My responsibility now is to find a clear path and fulfill my duty.]]

Flipping a page Wyatt read further into what he had written.

[[I find myself in a scorching desert. The sun is harsh and the heat worse than back home. Every step makes my feet ache. The monsters here are terrible. I see a tree in the distance. I hope it is not a mirage. Were it not for the hope of freshwater, I would have collapsed already.

In the past three hours since I arrived, I have fought monster after monster. Each being more dreadful than the last. An awful voice in my head keeps giving tell of those I have slain. It's voice reselmbles that of the demon.]]

Wyatt flipped again.

[[It is night. The desert is frigid. My face is icing, and I can barely move my fingers. I have no clothes to warm myself with. Fortunately, I have lit myself a fire. The Soul Shards I have gathered are astonishingly energy dense, I put a mere few in the flame at the beginning of the night, and they still blaze brightly.

Unfortunately, I am now the most visible thing for mi]]

And again.

[[ a great devIl

         Its abIlIty wIll be mIne                                 arm gone            I lIve

eventually mIne                                         ]]

And again.

[[I will never reveal myself. The white tree held two wretched skeletons, both alive through some witchcraft. The first one was dreadful but the second appalled me.

The first skeletons claimed himself Azarax, king of kings, leader of his army against the "gods" and punished for his acts against them.

I know none of these gods nor does it interest me. Truthfully I believe these so called gods are only beings of high power, not even worth the paper I spend writing about them.

His tune changed as he smelled me, and he showed disgust. As strongly as a skull can display emotion at least. He said to me "Gods mortal, the stench of the Weaver is strong on you."

I knew not who the "Weaver" was, but his disgust was clear.

His "friend" then turned and faced me. He held a a different bearing. An ignoble one.

He said to me in a tone I never wish to hear again. "It is my greatest pleasure to meet a Cardinal of the Weave."

My stomach sunk upon reflection of his words. There was only one supernatural domain I had seen that resembled a weave. The domain of the demon.

His words confirmed my belief. "Hail Weaver, Demon of Fate, Firstborn of the Unknown."

I would have been happy to leave but was thirsting and unwilling to leave the tree surrounded with fresh water. So as I drank he continued with his pathetic worship of this "Weaver". Azarax made his displeasure clear as well. Whether it came from annoyance at the worship or annoyance of his "friend" in general, I still cannot determine.

He then asked me a question:

"Which of the Cardinals are you? I wish to show my proper respect."]]

'I can't wait to see a movie made about this!'

Reading through his work once again, Wyatt couldn't help but feel prideful about it. He could just imagine the world's reaction to his story.

Sadly, he had to get back to thinking about how best to steal a piano. Fortunately, the late hour worked perfectly for him, as it would let him hide in the shadows and play the role of a thief to perfection.

Considering he was currently on the backside of the castle, the guards would not have been able to get a good view of him even in broad daylight. All he needed now was to bide his time, and gain more information about this precious piano.

'(What is it about this piano that's so special to you? You already have plenty of music saved up on The Ordinary Rock. Do you need more?)'

Wyatt got a little excited at Sunny's question. He did in fact have a reason beyond the coolness of stealing a literal piano.

'[Sunny, I know I'm about to sound like an old man, but let me tell you about back in my day.]'

Sunny was hooked, he never got many details about Wyatt's old life.

'[When I was a tiny little thing, still in high school, there was a trend on the internet. The infamous "Devious Lick" challenge. It involved kids stealing property from their schools.]'

'[They stole soap dispensers, paper towel dispensers, fire extinguishers, sinks, TOILETS?! Can you believe that Sunny?]'

'(That sounds like... the most idiotic thing I have ever heard of. What did they gain?)'

'[Attention. A lot of attention actually. I actually can't even say it was the dumbest thing I've seen on the internet. It was a real wild west back then, but that's a story for another time.]'

Sunny could see trends, he already had a good idea of what Wyatts goal was. As unnecessary as Wyatt's ideas sometimes seemed, they did follow a certain logic. A piano was a nice thing to have certainly, but not something worth risking his life for. But attention was different. To Sunny, that was starting to seem like Wyatt's lifeblood. Whatever he intended to use it for.

'(So it's another one of your spectacles?)' Sunny sighed out.

'[It is. I know, I know. Measure twice, cut once. I'll spend most of the night gathering information, and when I finally create a big ruckus, 'Unknown' will be gone as soon as he arrives.]'

'(As long as we both understand.)'

_______________________________

Seishan POV

A young Handmaiden was walking down the hall. She slowly approached a door with an insignia of the Golden Serpent. The door opened before she had a chance to knock. "My lady, we have no signs of an intruder yet."

In the room, sat a woman before a mirror. The woman had soft delicate gray skin, adorned with various pieces of jewelry. Her face was calm, not betraying a hint of emotion. It was none other than Song Seishan, the long lost daughter of Ki Song.

"Very well." Seishan said, with a minor hint of annoyance, before having her eyes slightly widen.

She was no longer looking at the messenger, but at the floor beneath her.

'This is odd.'

But before she could determine what was wrong, the feeling suddenly went away.

"Is something the matter my lady?"

'Yes... there certainly is.'

Seishan did not trust whatever gave her this feeling.

"Tell the group watching the Music Lounge to assist the group at the Casino, and the group in the Memory Market. Following that, on my authority as a Lieutenant, tell the tower watchers of the Castle Guard to stay on High Alert."

The Handmaiden quickly digested her orders and left after giving a brief bow.

As the Handmaiden disappeared, Seishan discreetly equipped every Memory she could. She knew how insidious mental attacks could be. How could she forget when her sister, Bin, had played a few pranks on her when she Awakened.

Making her way to the Music Lounge, she had prepared herself for a tough night. If she could've, she would have ordered every guard and hunter to join her to catch Unknown, but that would cause too much panic in the Castle.

If they couldn't catch him, they could at least deter him. They just needed to stay watchful.

________________________________

The hour was late. It was dead silent, and most of the lights were off. It wasn't worth attracting monsters from the city just to catch this one person.

Seishan was about to consider this night a success, dawn was approaching, and by then The Bright Lord would be awake. Unknown would not be able to do anything after that.

As she started grinning lightly, a noise came from a room next to her.

That wasn't good.

The room next to her was the piano room. Very few could have gotten in there without her noticing, and only one person would have any reason to be there.

Summoning her Armor and Weapons, Seishan bust down the door. A meager amount of light flowed into the room, revealing two figures carrying a piano.

As they both turned to her, one of them put the piano back on the ground, and the other following.

The first figure to drop the piano then gave a low, respectful bow, and said in a deep voice:

"It is an honor to meet one of the daughters of the Venerable Ki Song."

She felt a minor feeling of mental suppression. This must have been the effect of the Memory that the young Pathfinder had mentioned. Fortunately she had prepared herself for this. Her strategy was to seem weakened to lull him into a false sense of security.

Strangely enough, Unknown didn't make a move. He only seemed focused on her body, staring clearly at her chest.

'How lecherous! What would have happened if it were not me here but one of my poor girls?'

Sadly, she still had a plan to follow. But as she feigned weakness, something unexpected came out of this man's mouth.

"I see. A transformation ability."

This didn't make sense. He couldn't be referring to her ability. Seishan did not start transforming yet.

'Was he mentioning an ability he had?'

"It is very unique. I would love to study it, but sadly another ability is taking priority."

"What did you say?"

Forcing his face upwards, as though just now realizing he's talking to another person, Unknown responded.

"Some irrelevant ramblings. Please ignore them."

Seishan was confused. Was he going to fight or not? She had come here prepared to destroy him, but now she wasn't so sure. The worst part was, she couldn't even tell if it was because of a mental attack, or if her hostility had truly fizzled out.

This is why she hated mental attacks. Your own logic worked against you. Even the dumbest of things could make sense with the smallest mental change.

In reality, her confusion had nothing to do with mental attacks. Unknown had the Leaf, and was even using it, but Seishans defenses were too strong.

The mere possibility of being manipulated forced her to fall back on an old strategy that her mother taught her. The Rule of Precedent.

In any given situation, if your mind is being attacked, don't do what you think you should do. Do what you did the last time you were in that situation.

What did she do the last time there was a threat that acted suspicious?

Tensing her muscles, sword in hand, she prepared herself.

"I wish to ask however. Why do the Supremes not reveal themselves?"

Now her rage was fizzled out. What did she do last time someone asked about the Sovereigns?!

No one had ever asked her about the Sovereigns!

"How do you know about the Sovereigns?"

"If you mean the Supremes, then it came to me in a dream."

Seishan actually laughed.

"Whenever you come from, I figure you should know. We require a bit more proof than that nowadays."

At this point Unknown showed signs of surprise.

"What do you mean 'Whenever'?"

Noticing a chance to regain the upper hand she tried to slowly creep closer, only to be stopped by a firm gesture from Unknown. This didn't mean she'd give up of course.

"All I'm saying is that in the twenty third century, we at least require some modicum of evidence. I'll ask again. How do you know about the Sovereigns?"

"And I'll say it again, it came to me in a dream. Although technically, it is called... divination? I can't say I'm clear on the terminology."

"Yes, I suppose you wouldn't be. Now then, what is the piano for?"

"No no no. I asked you first, why do these 'Sovereigns' hide? I can't understand what they could gain from the people not knowing them."

"You use the word Sovereign very sparingly. Oh well. The reason they don't reveal themselves is that they don't need to. They have 'Supreme' authority, with or without the people. Do you understand?"

"I believe I do. Hehehe. It is quite different from home. The only 'Sovereign' I ever learned about is Popular Sovereignty. It's hard to imagine a leader the people don't know about."

This caused Seishan to go into some thought.

'Popular Sovereignty. That must mean... some form of democracy. What old democratic nations do I know? The ancient greeks? He doesn't seem to have trouble with english. The United States of America? Perhaps. How I do wish I had known some more.'

"I have answered your question, now tell me why you felt the need to ransack us of a piano."

"I did it because I wanted a piano. Also, I want to cause something of a ruckus."

"How simple."

"If that is all, Ms. 'Sehee-Shan' then I will take my leave."

Unknown moved back to piano and started picking it up again.

'Did he say my name wrong? DID HE SAY A RUCKUS?!?!'

"Hold it Unknown."

"Oh. You know who I am?"

Seishan could hear a hint of excitement in his voice.

"I have to ask which you find more valuable. The piano or creating a ruckus?"

As he looked up thoughtfully for a few moments, he calmly delivered his answer.

"The piano of course."

'Thank goodness.'

"How fortunate for the both of us. In that case you can keep the piano, and I'll let you leave without making a mess."

Pausing for a second, Unknown thought this through. Soon he responded in a very confused tone.

"But. I'm the one that wants to make a mess?"

"Sadly, it would be better for me if that didn't happen."

"Perhaps I should make a mess right here? I always thought these walls would look better painted red."

"How much is my death worth to you?"

The odd question gave him whiplash.

"What?"

"If we fought then I would die, but I can certainly break your piano before you break me. So is it worth it?"

Unknown put the piano down, and the room froze. They spent the better part of a minute just staring each other down.

'The next move is yours Unknown. Five days ago, you had traded hundreds of Soul Shard. Four days ago, you robbed Bright Castle's best. Have you gained any more strength these past few days?'

Finally something changed. The figure on the other side of the piano had disappeared into a spark of light.

'It's an Echo?!'

She had backed up to gain a better defensive position and was now standing in the doorway of the room. Behind her was another square room.

As Unknown looked down at her- no. He was shorter, how could he look down on her. Yet she could feel something looking down at her.

Without taking his eyes off of Unknown, she slowly looked up and saw... nothing.

Nothing but darkness.

'Is it a trick?!'

Suddenly the same feeling came from behind her!

She couldn't just turn away from Unknown but she also couldn't ignore whatever was behind her. It could've been anything from backup for her to another enemy.

The feeling she got from Unknown vanished immediately. He was no longer looking at her. She could run at him, but the odds of it being a trap were too high to risk.

She made a choice to retreat back a room. This allowed her to confirm nothing was behind her, and it put her in a doorway connected to a long corridor. Her odds of survival had just skyrocketed.

Of course, now there was no bluffing of sacrificing her life, but that was okay. The Bright Lord would be unhappy, he might even send Harus for her failure. But she knew more than most. She could survive.

She had distance, a strong defensive position, and a path of retreat. But that wasn't all. Because she bought herself a few seconds, she had managed to transform.

In the place of a tantalizing woman, stood a being with grossly elongated limbs and red eyes. Her skin took on a rubbery appearance and her jaw quickly unhinged to reveal many rows of razor sharp teeth.

As Unknown walked toward her, she had taken a far more provocative position.

"My god. You look like a shark."

Unknown had paused for a few moments, and then walked into the doorway of the room she had left.

They both held defensive positions. One defending an escape route, and one defending a piano.

'Perhaps you're not strong enough to fight me.'

Immediately after having that thought, she felt two more sets of eyes looking at her. This time from opposite ends of the corridor.

She knew it was probably a trick at this point. There were neither going to be enemies nor allies coming for her. It would just be a battle until one of them retreats.

Or at least, those were her thoughts until the feeling became far stronger on one side. There were now three sets of eyes on her right, one set on her left, and Unknown looking straight at her.

She had to check, just in case.

She looked...

And she broke out in a cold sweat.

'Is that a Carapace Lurker?!'

A dark crab, with a very flat head was what had just closed off her escape on one side.

On her left the feeling became stronger again, two sets of eyes were now staring her down.

'Shit. That's a Statue of the City.'

Her second, and last, path of escape was gone. She had been encircled before she even realized what happened.

She had stayed well defended from mental attacks, but now she wished she had brought more offensive Memories.

She would without a doubt die to the Carapace Lurker. It was a Fallen Beast.

Perhaps the Statue of the City could be beaten, but the reason they were so deadly was that they could drag out fights beyond anyone's ability to continue. She would be slaughtered by the Lurker before she escaped.

Of course, she could always try to get past Unknown, but he seemed confident in his ability to hold her long enough for his backup to defeat her.

'How terrible, surrounded on all sides.'

Her transfigured face screeched out.

"Did you plan this out Unknown? If so, I must congratulate you."

"The hammer and anvil is a very old strategy. Now tell me..."

The feeling of being watched increased. Now there was also something watching from behind her, above her, and below her.

"Are you still confident that you can break MY piano, before I break you?"

Seishan stood there for a second then turned back into a human, prostrating herself on the ground.

"I surrender."

"Good, just hold tight right there."

And so, for a few minutes, Seishan was on the floor, until she could no longer feel anything looking at her.

'I suppose I can't show my face in this Castle anymore.'

She got up and checked for any damage. No noise was made when Unknown left so she couldn't imagine what happened. As she walked into the former piano room, she saw a wall cut out completely, and the piano gone.

Slumping against the wall and facing the window, she watched in awe as the sun creeped above the building, and bathed the room in light.

She had survived, and dealt with the problem without anyone knowing. A near perfect result. Gunlaug would not have her killed. She would be rewarded instead.

'Gods, what a long night.'

She couldn't wait to tell them everything she had learned about the anomalous... Unknown.

End Chapter 22