SWNOVELXO Chapter 39: Night & M
"DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT
EVERYBODY'S FEELING WARM AND BRIGHT
IT'S SUCH A FINE AND NATURAL SIGHT
EVERYBODY'S DANCING IN THE MOONLIGHT"
Sunny listened in wonder to the catchy song, Kai took out of his sleeve. At first he though he would just sing his own songs, but soon he realized that stars, and famous bands somehow know better than just to perform their own music.
'Who would have thought?'
He wouldn't.
Kai appeared to be more than just a famous singer knowing how to play a flute. He quickly found the way to use a new tool. Not only to make his voice reach further, but somehow managed to make something of [Not Really] enchantment. He replaced the lack of instruments with recording his voice imitating them, turning it into some 'choir' acapella.
"Well now, I get low and I get high
And if I can't get either, I really try
Got the wings of Heaven on my shoes
I'm a dancin' man and I just can't lose
You know it's alright, it's okay
I'll live to see another day
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man
Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother
You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin'
And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive (oh)
Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive (oh)"
It wasn't really smart music. It sounded nice, violently nice, and hard to shake off like violence, but as long as you don't really try to understand. The thing that was coming to his mind was his visit in the night club, where people were dancing in strange patterns. Well, the music was much worse back then, and had three times more rhythm, but people were enjoying themselves under some pleasant, not hurtful hex.
Similarly to hexes the music require to breach the resilience of mind, and their minds were already very defensive. He, because he had to guard his own identity from being lost on several occasions. Neph was living all her life on guard, and guarding herself from pain wasn't doing it better for her. Cassie was no less distant for her own reasons.
Nonetheless they gradually were able to dismantle that excess that burdened them. There were more catchy songs, appearing more out of place. Fire Keepers were also enjoying themselves freely. Probably their scars weren't as deep, or they weren't as mad as the present Saints. Looking at Jet, and Effie he quickly discarded the theory.
De facto they were at a concert, hanging together. And it was a concert of their favourite singer that was tirelessly throwing quick arrangements to please the audience. It wasn't perfect. Between every performance Kai had to spend a few minutes recording necessary lines.
Together with Nephis. By a big stretch of the truth, but still.
"And now time for another piece of ancient music from before Dark Times. This one is seemingly about sun, and good weather."
Sun, and good weather? Not very ambitious notion, but maybe it's something about Changing Star specifically. It might serve well to conquer her heart, knowing well it's thanks to him that song was possible.
As always it started with catchy acapella, for some seconds.
"SUNNY"
The word, his nickname, his artistic pseudonym, boomed, and echoed through the air with siren might. It didn't have anything to bounce off, to return with echo, but Kai, crafty as he is, somehow managed.
YESTERDAY MY LIFE WAS FILLED WITH RAIN
SUNNY, YOU SMILED AT ME AND REALLY EASED THE PAIN
THE DARK DAYS ARE GONE, AND BRIGHT DAYS ARE HERE
MY SUNNY ONE SHINES SO SINCERE"
SUNNY, ONE SO TRUE
I LOVE YOU"
Suddenly he felt weak. The world around him darkened, and he felt like he's losing his consciousness.
'Why does it have to be about me?'
He was sitting with a forced smile. Cold sweat formed on his forehead. He hid his face. Kai, of course noticed that, but then he considered because he doesn't perform good enough. Therefore he used a feature of Passing Stick, he learned about only like hour before.
The stick released a command, only he could hear.
"Sing better."
Then his voice boomed, and became even more melodious.
"SUNNY, THANK YOU FOR THE TRUTH YOU LET ME SEE
SUNNY, THANK YOU FOR THE FACTS FROM A TO Z
MY LIFE WAS TORN LIKE A WIND-BLOWN SAND
AND A ROCK WAS FORMED WHEN YOU HELD MY HEND
SUNNY, ONE SO TRUE, I LOVE YOU"
Thankfully nothing strange happen. Maybe Effie was about to fall off her chair.
'Sunny?'
It was the voice of Cassie, somewhat concerned.
'Do you want me to erase some memories?'
'No, thanks, Cassie. I think we don't need to literally forget about it.'
The song finally came to end. It embarrassed him, but if to ignore the mention of his nickname, it was really a good finale.
*clap* *clap*
"Sunless."
He felt a warm hand on his arm.
"Princess?"
Then she touched his hand, holding it in her two. Smooth, beautiful skin was caressing his. She shook his hand.
"Thank you. I've long dreamed about attending the concert of Night&Gale, but couldn't take myself to ask him about making one. When he was still in his band, I didn't have the opportunity. It's the closest thing to that dream."
Maybe it isn't so bad?
"It's my pleasure. Glad you like it."
Then he started clapping himself. The clapping prolonged, and claps died down only after something like a minute. Kai bowed, and then returned.
Cassie got up. Threw a meaningful look to some of her comrades.
'Time to go. We need to talk.'
'Can I bring Aiko, and Julius?'
'Are they important?"
'I think that they're crucial, and can't not know.'
"Then fine."
They left Fire Keepers to enjoy themselves, exactly like the last time, but this time there were a few of his people to deal with them.
Suddenly Sunny realized they lack the name for what his little organization is. How should he name it? Shadow Clan? Nah... He won't have any heirs soon. Weavers? That sounds like a cult. Shadies? Sounds shady. Maybe Shades?
Aiko, and Julius at first hesitated a little, but they went him to the Tower. Cassie, Jet, Effie, Kai, and finally him, they all followed Nephis. Aiko, and Julius were watching the architecture of the citadel with wonder. His business partner was simply overwhelmed by sheer scale, and luxury provided by the tower. Brilliant Emporium was tasteful, but not majestic. Julius was interested in ancient languages, and there were plenty here, both magical, and just old writing.
Here languages were not only ancient, and magical. They were prehistoric, written by a being living since the dawn of time. And their meaning screamed through all time, because in the end the words were expressing not just names, but True Names, names holding their meaning as long as the existence exists.
Getting Julius out of here might be a problem. He was sure that when the meeting will come to an end, and it will for sure, that men will be making requests to allow him the access to runic sorcery.
They found some furnished room, a chamber customized to be a place to sit, talk, and other stuff. However there weren't many luxuries there since moving furnitures into Dream Realm is far from being a viable option. Cassie, and Fire Keepers had to make a lot by themselves or buy it from Sunny. They didn't even have anything to decorate the floor. That's how worried the were about cleaning it of the dust.
'Cassie should use my help more. For example I could make a carpet Memory for her. Or... Marut's brother probably could do that instead. So why should I strain myself that much?'
Finally they all sat down on chairs, around a rectangular table. Cassie started preparing water for tea for everyone. It looked out of place considering she was wearing a blindfold all the time. Worried, Aiko offered some assistance to the blind seer.
Nephis was clearly less worried. Only Julius was overwhelmed. Everyone here at some point were his students, and met him briefly or more thoroughly.
"To think that some years ago you were merely Sleepers, and a few of you attended my courses. Now, good gracious, I feel like a young shit that didn't see the world."
Hearing this Jet chuckled.
"Don't belittle yourself, Julius. It's exactly because of your knowledge, and experience that some of us managed to get here alive."
Ironically Jet was wrong. If not for Julius, almost all of them would die for sure. Teacher Julius didn't shine much through his own achievements, yet his impact proved he's a right man in a right place.
Nephis started talking in her flat emotionless voice.
"We're here to assess our situation, and prepare a strategy for the future. As much as you know there's a glaring hole in our memories. According to Cassie we're not any closer to fixing that. She tried many possibilities, and all of this failed. Due to lack of means to pursue the matter I..."
She didn't sound just emotionless. It was so formal it didn't sound like Nephis, but what she said it was hopeless. Or rather simply unnecessary. Everyone paid some attention to him, and looking at themselves they didn't even need to say they suspect the same.
He returned to their lives out of his choice, and thanks to that they're not torn anymore.
"We also have different issues at hand. The recent war between Song, and Valor came to an end with no result. Thanks to a mysterious report on the Tomb of Ariel all attempts to capture the citadel were proved to be inadequate. Thanks to that the war was quickly stopped, and none of the Sovereigns got an edge. At the same time the Government, and the House of Night grew in power. That way we reached some balance of power, but also we, and Mordret, the rebellious son of Anvil, suffer from suspicion that we could be authors. Because the author called himself 'Nobody' Song, and Valor assumed it's Mordret, because he calls himself Prince of Nothing. We don't really know who leaked the information."
*cough* *cough*
Sunny felt the sudden pressure.
"Does anyone here have any idea who did this?"
"No."
"No."
"No."
"It's was me."
Under the flaw he had to spell the truth. Actually he wanted to tell them already.
"Wait, what?"
Effie looked at him in utmost shock. Jet opened her icy eyes, and blessed him with sudden chill. Then Aiko levitated the tray with brewed tea. Cassie faced him while touching her blindfold.
"Explain yourself."
Sunny shrugged his shoulders.
"There's nothing much to explain. During the Chain of Nightmares I learned about the war. I was also there in the Tomb, and after my hard-earned return I wrote a report, and published it anonymously."
"Why? Now the clans are suspicious, and will want someone to pay!"
He shook his head in annoyance.
"What why? There was a horrible war in the middle of catastrophe! The Sovereigns waged a stupid war, and I wanted to stop it. I couldn't do that with my strength so I did that with my knowledge."
The tension between him and Cassie was growing.
"You did good."
Suddenly Kai spoke.
"Kai?"
"None of us had the courage to do the thing, and it probably stopped the war. Right end was reached with the right means. And he didn't actually reveal anyone. What right do we have to question him?"
Nephis looked at them coldly. Then her face softened a little, though the expression was empty as if didn't really care.
"Good, at least that matter was explained. Now we have a few different issues to talk about. The peace we achieved is only temporary. We have a balance of powers, but the Sovereigns revealed their existence, and with that started growing in power at an increased rate. My sister, Morgan, decided to challenge the Nightmare alone. Probably Anvil ordered her to do so. She will succeed."
Just like that she put a lot of faith in her sworn enemy. Sunny blinked. Usually when you put believe in yourself you deny it to the enemy. And yet there was some kind of respect she had for Morgan. She couldn't deny that among the Masters she was the top, and the most proficient one. It didn't matter that it's Third Nightmare, and unbelievable struggle. Morgan was of War, struggle was her element.
"When she'll become a Saint, she will probably wield enough power to suppress the Government almost alone. That's unless the Government becomes stronger. When that happens, and the rest of the Great Clans will grow in that time too, the Government is going to be at total disadvantage again. Finally there's going to be a war, because it's only a matter of time before the Sovereigns will find something it's possible to fight for. If one side wins, our chances are going to plummet."
One Sovereign is terrible enough. Great Beasts are at least stupid, and don't possess aspects, making it possible to play them and considering that Great Beasts might be an equivalent of a Supreme, Great are manageable only because they lack intelligence, technique, proficiency, and don't develop their Domains properly.
"How do we stop that? Such war will be terrible, and will ruin the humanity."
This time it was Julius who asked. Terrible war with terrible consequences.
"Honestly I'm not sure if I want to stop that, taking into account they're gonna kill each other... Besides, you know already how great the disparity between a Master, and Saint is. Kai, Jet, Cassie, you've already killed the Corrupted version of themselves. Alone you would never stand a chance. And they're not alone. On top of that we can imagine that the gap between a Saint, and a Sovereign is even more terrible. Even if we gathered the power of all of the Saints we would probably still fail to defeat them. That's how terrible it is."
Sunny sighed, and put a wry smile on his face.
"So your idea is to let them kill each other in that hypothetical war, and stab the remaining one in the back, right?"
Classic approach. Prepare the battlefield, force your foes into unfavorable situations, trap, and then kill at the moment of distraction. Then risk everything.
"That's right. The main point is not if we're gonna face the war, because it's apparent there's gonna be one, and because of our political affiliations, cut that, even without them they would drag us into their mess. We have to know what we're gonna do."
Julius looked somber.
"Kill each other? With all respect, your highness, but why do you want to kill your... let's put it, father?"
Right, he doesn't know. For Julius it's only a matter of war. But it's not only a matter of war. Therefore he has to briefly explain what's going on.
"Because he, Anvil of Valor, killed her actual father, and for many years insisted on killing her, and I believe that if he's gonna win the war, he will execute her."
"What about Ki Song then? Isn't it better to defect to Song, and ensure she will win the war?"
"Sorry, Teacher Julius. The same. She probably cooperated with Anvil in the act of killing Broken Sword. Either them or she. Currently the princess lives, because Valor temporarily needs her more alive than dead. But after the war that will undoubtedly change. She's desperate to start that plot. Or rather a normal person would. Nephis instead is passionate about killing him."
Nephis chuckled.
"You're nailing it quite well, actually too well."
But then she took a more somber tone.
"That's exactly why we can't discuss that matter, before addressing our last problem. In this room there's a man we can't fully trust, and it's Sunless, the owner of Brilliant Emporium."
"Why can't we trust him?"
Kai heard Sunny many times already. One thing he could tell about him is that he never really lies. Someone who never lies shouldn't bear so much ingenuity.
"Think about it. He comes, no one knows where he comes from, he purposely takes our attention, casually reveals our secrets to us, shows no hostility, gives you a magic microphone, offers plausible deals, treats you like he's your friend, he even revealed his flaw. Jet, what do you think about revealing your flaw to others?"
Jet answered casually. It was pretty obvious where it goes.
"It's foolish. We keep them secret, because they're usually the greatest weakness we have."
"So if revealing your flaw is foolish what can we tell you about that man? He's either a fool or just really wants to be our friend. Which one are you, Sunless?"
Sunny smilled.
"It's easy, I really want to be your friend."
"Why?"
"First of all I like your company. That's true."
"But you're not telling the truth, a very deceitful way of lying."
How does she knows this? Damn... it would be much more easy if she didn't question his good, well considered reasons. Anyone else would just believe him already, yet Nephis knows.
"Because the reason is rooted in my past, past we cannot share with each other. I would like to tell you, but it's no use. If I tried you would immediately forget what I've told you, and on top of that think I didn't answer at all. Isn't that worse than lying?"
She turned to Kai. Kai nodded.
"I suspect I've tried to do something with that."
"So how can we trust you that you're not going to betray us in a good moment?"
"It's very simple. Kai?"
"What do you need?"
"I need only your joke of a flaw. Yours can reveal to you everything that I said, and consider a lie as a lie. Therefore I'm telling you:
I think of all of you as good friends. I believe you want to slay Sovereigns. I believe you want to do that for the sake of humanity. I want to support Nephis as a replacement for the current Sovereigns, and therefore make her the Queen of humanity. I was never loyal to Sovereigns, nor I plan to act for their benefit more than it serves my goals well. I want to be free. I want humanity to be free, want humanity to have a future without turning around the clan's insecurities, and greed for power, and therefore I want to slay Sovereigns too. Even if you didn't exist, I would want them dead. You could say I hate them. I'm gonna support you, don't think I will ever have a reason to betray you, and would be heartbroken if I ever had to, and moreover I want to act as your equal. If you say no, I'm not gonna reveal your secrets to anyone, except for people I have brought with me, and only because it's impossible for them to not know what I'm planning. And if the Great Clans discover I'm a Saint, I will be under suspicion so I'm the same. It's me or them. Plus I can do my part for free. That has to be a fair price.
Is that enough?"
Sunny was catching his breath after his mini-tirade.
"Everything he told was true."
Kai stated.
"What about your friends you have brought?"
Sunny turned to Julius.
"Julius, are you in? If you don't want to do this anymore, we have the means to keep you out, and safe, and even still somewhat richer for your previous efforts."
He was genuinely curious about Julius' view of this matter. While Aiko was still to some extent involved with Nephis, Julius was truly an outsider, not knowing anything, and not really concerned with wars.
"Youngsters... Princess, I'm already in, wholeheartedly. Sunless already told me where this ends. I've always believed that knowledge should serve humanity, and recent events proved to me that the Sovereigns want to prevent humanity from learning, and using much important knowledge for its own sake. Therefore I will support you. But I have a request."
"What kind?"
"I want you to allow the spread of knowledge. I want humanity to know what kind of dangers it faces, and how it can arm against them. Currently that knowledge is heavily guarded by the clans, and none want to share it. I find it wrong, and it hampers humanity's efforts."
Indeed there was some sort of protection around the knowledge, especially knowledge of sorcery. Thanks to the labour of many linguists Valor was able to decipher the meaning of runic sorcery. And yet that knowledge was never allowed to circulate in the society. And why? First of all runic circuits were very complicated, and not just any could understand them. But the main reason is that the knowledge got locked somewhere in Bastion, most artisans were under pressure of working on Spelltech, while those who choose to make things that can be enchanted were taken mostly by Valor. All places runic sorcery could be found were more or less claimed by them before anyone could try to study it. And if somehow someone managed to gather the knowledge, what would happen to the author of the monograph or a professor that would like to teach in the academy? Potentially an assassination or invitation by a Master from Great Clans.
Nephis accepted the request. Sunny then turned to his partner.
"Aiko?"
"I care about doing business. I need my boss to do business, and the war the Sovereigns will start is gonna harm the Brilliant Emporium. I hate that, and I'm gonna support you. Even if it means cooperating with Kai. I can betray you, yes, but Valor won't pay me for that. They'll rather kill me. You know... prophylactically."
"Nice motive. At least one of us retained some sanity. Princess Nephis, is that enough for you?"
Nephis sighed in resignation.
"You really leave me no choice here, do you? "
"You do have a choice. Even more choice than anyone could ever give you. And you know why? Because it's me who's giving it. You can say 'no' even if there's no reason to, and be sure nothing forced you to make that choice. It's only a matter of if you are willing to."
"Fine. And it's me who's willing."