Chapter 3: Saint Sunless Meets the Parents and Luster
A very uncomfortable pale young Saint with black hair and black eyes sat next to an equally uncomfortable pale young teenager. These two were sitting across from two middle aged adults while a thick air filled the room. Sunny was never one to be comfortable around people, and after his experiences within his last Nightmare, his ability to function like a "normal" human seemed to have short-circuited completely. While he was sure that he retained more of his humanity than Nephis, he wasn't sure exactly how much he retained. So much had happened within the Tomb. He glanced up briefly to see all seven of his shadows shake their heads in agreement. They didn't wish to remember either, not even the newest member he had gained just before the Nightmare had ended.
Sunny sipped his tea and glanced at Rain's parents. "So, uh, what did you want to discuss with me?" he asked, stumbling over his words slightly.
"We just realized that we had never been properly introduced to our daughter's combat tutor," Rain's mother replied. "Other than a few messages that we've exchanges, we've never held a proper conversation. And Rain was absolutely beside herself when that soldier told her about the three Category 4 Gates manifesting in Antarctica."
"Soldier? What soldier?" Sunny questioned, a look of confusion forming on his face for brief moment. He turned to Rain for an explanation.
"His name is Luster. I've been volunteering at the NQSC Hospital for the Awakened soldiers who were injured in Antarctica. At first it was for a school project, but then when Luster and I realized that we both knew you, we kinda grew close. I got to hear some really awesome stories about the Devil of Antarctica," Rain answered, leaving out the fact that Luster had told her that Sunny was also Mongrel.
Something akin to sadness flashed across the young Saint's face as he remembered the young soldier who had been injured by the scavenger who had chased him literally across six-thousand kilometers just for petty revenge. Sunny had killed the ugly bastard and had gotten a Shadow in the process, but it had been hard won. It had been shortly after that Sunny had lost Belle, Dorn, and Samara to Winter Beast. Quentin, as far as he knew, was still technically MIA. A second uncomfortable silence settled in the room while the adults processed the emotions that flitted across the Saint's face. He seemed both young and very, very old in that moment.
"So, our question to you Saint Sunless, what are your plans for Rain's continued combat instruction?" her father asked.
Sunny paused for a moment, trying to remember how to answer questions before the pain of his Flaw forced him to answer. "I don't mind," he replied curtly. He was still trying to work out how to interact with "normal" humans, since everything about the Tomb and the Nightmare had been harrowing and abnormal. From the looks on the older adults' faces, this was, perhaps, not the right answer.
'Damnation,' Sunny swore to himself. 'What would Kai do in this situation? Wait, I can't believe that I'm actually thinking about that bastard.'
"Uh, I, uh, don't mind being her instructor," Sunny continued, after some thought. "But I may not have much time. Or not as much time as before. The Government and the Clans are all demanding much of my time."
The two older adults relaxed. Sunny and his cohort had made history when they had returned. They were the first cohort that had challenged the third Nightmare that had had a one-hundred percent survival rate. It had been unprecedented. Of course, his cohort were all Forgotten Shore survivors with the exception of now Saint Soul Reaper Jet, and everyone knew how abnormal the Forgotten Shore survivors were. This meant that they, the Government and the Great Clans, would be clamoring to have the unaffiliated Saints, Sunless, Athena Raised by Wolves, and Kai Nightingale to join them. Lady Nephis Changing Star and Cassia Song of the Fallen were already tied to Clan Valor, but they had been repeatedly trying to get those three to join.
Rain's father had noticed that his daughter had deflated when the Saint said that he wouldn't be able to continue teaching so he offered a compromise. "Would you be able to offer once a week lessons?" The middle-aged government worker saw his daughter brighten at the prospect of spending time with the Saint sitting next to her.
"I think that should be manageable."
"Well, then, I think it's time for the three of us to be heading home. Come, Rain, say goodbye to the Saint," her mother said as she stood up. The air was getting thicker with the unspoken tension. She didn't know if it was just because all Saints seemed to be slightly unapproachable, or if it was because this Saint, in particular, seemed a little off-putting.
As they left, Sunny and his shadows breathed a sigh of relief. For a brief moment, Sunny was alone. His Nightmare and nightmare in the Tomb had seemed unending, and yet they had returned in time to save East Antarctica from falling completely. Saint Cor had welcomed them warmly, or at least, as welcoming as he could under the circumstances. The evacuation had been completed, and then Antarctica had been abandoned.
One of his shadows alerted to Rain walking back up the sidewalk to his front door, so he moved to open before she could knock. She stood there with her hand in mid-air and a look of surprised confusion on her face. "I…I forgot to ask…" she stammered. "I'm going to go meet Luster, your former soldier tomorrow. Would you like to go with me?" A second look of sadness flashed across Sunny's face before he nodded in agreement. Rain squealed in happiness. This would be the first time that she and Sunny would going out somewhere together. "I'll contact you tomorrow when I'm ready to leave," she squealed brightly. Sunny nodded again uncomfortably. Rain bounced back towards her house.
That night, while Sunny refused to sleep, even with Nightmare guarding his dreams and Rain was too excited to sleep, the two older adults were having a much more unsettling conversation.
"Saint Sunless. Did he seem, I don't know, just a bit, well…" Rain's father asked his wife as he pulled the blanket back to get into the bed.
"He seemed like he was far away, as if unused to human interaction, as if he'd been stranded or lost somewhere alone for years. But that can't be right. It's not even been a year since the Antarctica campaign began," his wife replied, finishing his thought.
"What do you suppose happened in his third Nightmare?"
"No one knows. None of the Saints are talking about it. I mean, most Awakened don't normally talk about their Nightmares; some do, of course, for the contribution points, but Saint Sunless's cohort seems especially reticent about their experiences. They only thing that they are all adamant about is for the Great Clans to leave the Black Pyramid in the Nightmare Desert alone. That it can't be reached. I don't know if the Clans are going to listen, but all six of the returned Saints are saying the same thing. They're saying that the Nightmare Desert is a Death Zone, and that the Pyramid is nothing more than an illusion, one that can never be reached."
"True. But it's more than that. He seems…I don't know how to describe it. Do you really think it's a good idea to leave Rain alone with him?"
"Well, I think at this point, if we try to separate Rain from him, Rain will rebel. Rain's got a good head on her shoulders. I think she should leave it up to her. I'm driving them to the hospital tomorrow. Rain said something about the Saint wanting to meet that soldier she's been spending so much time with."
The next morning three people filed into the PTV, a government worker, a Saint, and a bouncy teenager. At least, the teenager was able to keep the conversation flowing with her bubbly enthusiasm. As the older man drove and listened to his daughter, there were times when he swore he could see a smile flit across the younger man's face. Did the prospect of meeting the soldier excite the Saint that much? The PTV pulled up into the drop off lane, and the two younger people got out. Rain's father reminded her of the time that he would be there to pick her up and asked Sunny if would need a ride home as well, but Sunny declined stating that he had an appointment with a representative of Clan Night after leaving the hospital.
"Come on, Sunny, I've already told Luster you were coming. He's waiting for us." Rain exclaimed while practically dragging Sunny through the various wards. Many people stopped and stared at them. How dare a mundane human treat a famous Saint and respected war hero with such blatant disrespect? But at the same time, the Saint didn't push the girl off, and also had an air of cold aloofness that many found suffocating. The girl knocked on the door and opened before Luster had finished replying for them to enter.
The soldier and the Saint stared at each other in shock. Luster knew that his Major had returned a Saint; Kimmy had told him as much. But to see the Devil of Antarctica himself standing before him was almost too much. Sunny hadn't changed from the last time he had seen him, right before Kimmy had carried him across the barrier to the last boat leaving Falcon Scott, but there was something about his eyes. They had become unfathomably deep pools of darkness, and the shadows around the Major, now Saint, seemed darker and somehow alive, but Sunny was still Sunny.
"Cap…I mean Maj…I mean…Sain…," Luster stammered before falling silent, unsure of exactly how to address the younger man standing before him, especially since Kimmy told him that Sunny was no longer part of the Army.
'What's with this fool,' Sunny thought, and this his mouth opened before his brain could override the next few words. "What did you expect me to come back dead?" he said with his usual sarcasm. "Dying would be too pedestrian." 'Of course, I did die, multiple times, painfully, but eh, I made it back,' he continued in the deep recesses in his head. He furtively glanced around, but there was no sword wraith to taunt him otherwise, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Oh no, I knew you would make it. And that's exactly what I told Rain. That if anyone could come back, it would be you, Major," Luster beamed.
Rain and Luster exchanged a meaningful look. There was another secret that had been exchanged between those two, and by the dead gods they were hoping that Sunny would never find out that Rain knew. They sat and talked, or rather Rain and Luster sat and talked. Sunny was content to listen. Kai had told him that being around other humans, whether there were Awakened or mundane would help him recover after the nightmare that was the Nightmare, and Sunny thought he was right. He was half listening to their conversation when a breaking news cast caught his attention.
Rain and Luster felt the temperature in the room start dropping. Wondering what could have caused it, they looked up from their conversation to see Sunny staring intently at the projector screen where the news anchor was announcing that the newly returned Saint Sunless, one of the grand Heroes of Antarctica, was none other than the viral Dreamscape sensation Mongrel, the same Mongrel who had once held a manifesting gate in the NQSC alone, the same Mongrel who had nearly a thousand victories in the Dreamscape and then had challenged Master Morgan of Valor to a duel as a mere Awakened, the same Mongrel who had won victory after victory in Antarctica against countless Nightmare Creatures. Rain and Luster watched in horror as the shadows in the room grew darker and deeper.
'At least the projector didn't explode this time,' Rain thought suddenly.
"I have to go," Sunny said as he simply disappeared into the shadows. Neither the Awakened soldier nor the teenager tried to stop him, not that they could if they had wanted to. Luster, of course, had seen him do that throughout the Antarctica campaign, but it was the first time Rain had seen him use Shadow Step.
"Umm, Luster, what just happened?" she asked, tentatively.
"That's an ability of his. Some kind of teleportation, as far as I can tell."
"Oh ok. He looked really mad. Do you think he'll be ok?" Rain looked at the spot where he disappeared.
"He'll be fine. Hey, did anyone ever tell you that you and him, kind of look alike? You're both short, same hair, same eyes, although the Major's a little more creepy, but they were same before, and you've even got the same ears. The two of them sat in silence for the rest of Rain's visit before her father came and collected her.
"Hey dad, when you met Sunny yesterday, did you think we looked alike?" she asked while they were on their way home.
"Hmm, what's that sweetheart?"
Well, Luster says that Sunny and I look alike. What do you think, dad?"
"Hmm, I can see there might be some similarities, but don't give it too much thought," he responded evasively. The rest of the ride home was completed in thoughtful silence with both of thinking over the soldier's comparison between the Saint and the teenager.
That nigh while the adults were getting ready for bed, her father brought it up to his wife. "Luster, that soldier that Rain has been spending time with, told her that she looks like Saint Sunless. What do you think?"
"I think you've been spending too much time in the office, and reading too many webtoons," she replied drowsily. But, deep in her heart she couldn't deny there might be a slight connection.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone