Shadow Slave

After remaining silent for a while, Sunny spoke in a contemplative tone:

“I am guessing that the starlight stolen by Nightwalker was not infinite, though.”

Naeve nodded.

“Indeed. The light contained within the Star Lantern was merely a wisp, so it was exhausted eventually — Aether was the last person to have benefited from it directly.” He paused for a moment, and then added in a complicated tone:

“Not every child born in the House of Night inherits the lineage, either. And with how often Awakened die, our bloodline has always been at risk of vanishing... there are fewer of us now than ever before, and no one has been able to manifest the lineage as strongly as Nightwalker himself, yet. So... that was one of the reasons why he wanted to return to the Eternal City.”

He glanced around the spacious cabin they had gathered in, then gestured to its walls. ”The Night Garden is another. It is no secret to those who know it well that the Night Garden is in a state of disrepair. Some of its functions have deteriorated, while some have broken down entirely. It had been drifting in the Stormsea for thousands of years before being discovered by Nightwalker, after all. He believed that this great ship had been built at the wharf of the Eternal City, and therefore, that it could be repaired there, too.”

Sunny frowned faintly.

He knew that the Night Garden had been built by the Demon of Repose. Did the Eternal City have a connection to her as well, then?

It was quite possible that it did. A city where living things were reborn anew every time their bodies and souls grew decrepit with age, and were therefore unfamiliar with death, sounded very much like something that the daemon wielding powers of restoration and rejuvenation could have created.

‘What the...’

Had the Demon of Repose not only sailed the seas on a luxurious ship, but also operated an exclusive resort?

Sunny smelled a kindred spirit...

Naeve sighed.

“And lastly, Nightwalker only explored the outer fringes of the Eternal City before making his escape. The mystery of what was hidden in its depths — what treasures the immortals had left behind — had always drawn him back. So, he always intended to return there one day.”

Sunny hesitated for a moment.

“So why didn’t he? He had the map.”

Bloodwave spoke instead of Naeve, his deep voice betraying a hint of unease:

“Because he only escaped those waters by miracle, the first time around. People tend to think of the Stormsea as just another region of the Dream Realm, but actually, it is as vast as the rest of the explored area of this cursed world, encompassing waters that are as different from each other as Godgrave is different from the lawn in front of Bastion.”

He smiled darkly.

“We humans are able to exist in some parts of the Stormsea, but that does not mean that we can sail it freely and go wherever we want. In fact, those who are not careful to stay in relatively safe waters all die terrible deaths. And among those who do steer clear of the more perilous parts of the Stormsea, only some die.”

Naeve nodded.

“The Eternal City is hidden in the very heart of the Stormsea, so even with a map, reaching it is a dangerous task — at least it was, in the times when Nightwalker lived. You must remember that the most powerful of his contemporaries were only Masters, back then. Still... he never abandoned the plan of returning to the Eternal City, one day.”

Sunny and Jet looked at each other.

“Was that where he vanished? Did he leave on a voyage to the Eternal City and never come back?”

Naeve remained silent for a while.

”Yes. Some say that he died while exploring the Dream Realm, some say that he perished while attempting to conquer the Third Nightmare, but the truth is that Nightwalker left on a voyage to return to where he had first entered the Dream Realm. No one has heard anything about him since.” ŕἈΝОꞖĚ𝒮

Sunny frowned.

Naeve believed that Nightwalker had vanished without a trace while attempting to reach the Eternal City, and that no one knew what had happened to him... but that was not entirely true.

Mordret knew something, it seemed. At least he let slip that Asterion had forcefully taken the lineage of Storm God from Nightwalker, which led Sunny to believe that the Dreamspawn had something to do with the disappearance of the founder of the House of Night — even if the details of their confrontation, as well as its timing, were murky.

In any case, Naeve had given him a lot to think about.

After a long bout of silence, Sunny asked in a reserved tone:

“So what you’re saying is that there is a wondrous city — no doubt the most monstrous hell imaginable, by now — lost somewhere in the Stormsea, full of mystical treasures and divine light. Not only does it hold the key to restoring the bloodline of Storm God, but there’s also a wharf there where the Night Garden can be returned to its true glory. And the map to that city has just become visible to everyone in the Stormsea just now.”

Naeve nodded cautiously.

Sunny hesitated for a while, then looked at Jet.

He stared at her for a moment.

”So... we are going there, right?”

She did not seem to share his enthusiasm, though.

“Sunny, are you asking me if I am willing to take my ship, complete with millions of people living aboard it, on an expedition to who knows where, knowing full well that there will definitely be untold horrors waiting for us along the way?”

Sunny scratched the back of his head.

”Yes?”

Jet shook her head slowly.

“Why would we take that risk?”

Hearing that, Aether nodded.

”I agree. It is too perilous, even if the rewards promised by that expedition are great.”

Naeve and Bloodwave remained silent, but they seemed to share his opinions at least to some degree.

Sunny looked at them with dark amusement.

”Why?”

He shook his head with a wry smile.

“Well, it’s easy, really. Actually, I am quite surprised that I — a Sovereign — have to spell it out for you.”

Leaning forward, he looked at Jet and the Saints of Night with no hint of humor in his eyes.

“It is because I am desperate. Nephis does not show it, but she is desperate, too. You don’t seem to be nearly desperate enough, though, despite being weaker than us while knowing that the world is ending. There is barely any time left before all kinds of Cursed and Unholy beings descend upon us and consume us all. But you want to pass on a chance to increase the collective strength of humanity, and by a large margin at that?”

He leaned back and took a deep breath. “Allow me to dispel your illusion, then. Being cautious is great, but caution is a luxury we cannot afford. The time for caution is long gone... it had been squandered entirely before any of us was even born. Our only inheritance is necessity, and necessity dictates that we must take risks, whether we like it or not.”

Jet stared at him for a long while, her icy blue eyes betraying no emotion.

Eventually, she sighed.

“Is that the mindset of a Sovereign?”

Sunny smiled.

“Being desperate? Oh, it is. No one becomes Supreme by living a good life. Believe me... I am the most honest person in the world, after all. Two worlds, even.”