For Uriel, the morning began two hours before the sun rose over the horizon. It was a habit he had adopted through effort. He was not an early riser. He was the type of person who liked to sleep in when he had nothing to do.
However, since moving to Bastion a year ago and creating his wonderful shop, he had forced himself to get up early.
Letting out a sigh, he felt the cold wind and the scent of fresh grass brush against his nose.
He was sitting in his wonderful and exquisite black chair, which was one of his favorite chairs.
In his hands, he held a white porcelain cup decorated with a lotus flower.
Sighing, Uriel observed the great river that surrounded Bastion, which connected to Rivergate, one of Bastion's key citadels and the closest to the Stormsea.
For a moment, he wondered what would happen if he altered the river's course with a devastating explosion.
Uriel shook his head.
Although the idea of altering the river that fed Bastion was attractive, it would bring countless problems, and he was already retired from trouble.
He was no longer Uriel; he was Sun Jin-Woo, a pleasant fellow with a small, cozy shop in Bastion.
Gazing in the direction of Bastion's imposing castle, he observed the city's insignia—it was a massive floating white citadel. This was the citadel of humanity's current heroine, Changing Star, and her cohort, the Fire Keepers.
Lowering his gaze, he returned his sight to the landscape before him, enjoying his inner peace.
"Oh, my, so now you dedicate yourself to watching landscapes at this hour of the morning? Don't you want to paint me as well?"
Uriel sighed.
He recognized that voice, full of mockery, arrogance, and amusement.
"No. You're too ugly; you'd ruin the landscape, Shade."
"Oh, come on, stop saying such hurtful things," said Shade as the surrounding darkness began to materialize into a figure.
Uriel watched as the darkness began to emerge at a single point. From it, multiple red eyes appeared and disappeared, like demonic pupils, followed by a huge grin of white fangs and a pair of blood-red eyes.
As the darkness receded, a man in his mid-twenties with long black hair was revealed. His attire consisted of a dark suit, leather riding boots, and an intricately knotted red cravat, covered by a full-body red coat similar to a duster, with a cape. He also wore white gloves with circles adorned with ancient letters on his hands.
"I have traveled through the most scorching hells, crossed the most dangerous seas, fought against monsters that would make any man tremble with fear just by looking at them. All with the sole purpose of returning to this place, and this is how you receive me... This is a violation of my rights as a tenant! Unforgivable! Inhuman monster! Horrendous creature!"
Uriel felt one of his eyebrows twitch.
"Stop doing an Alucard cosplay! You don't have even half of what makes him a good character!" he shouted.
Upon hearing that, Shade's grin vanished instantly.
He fell to his knees on the grass and began to cry.
"I knew it, I'm a fraud, a true fraud, I deserve to die!"
Uriel sighed at Shade's attitude.
Standing up, Uriel walked over to Shade and patted him on the back.
"There, there, it's okay. I'm sorry for what I said. You do a good Alucard impression."
"Really?"
"Yes. You lack the charisma, the attitude, his arrogant and selfish air, and well... generally everything, but charisma counts for something, right?"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"
Uriel shrugged.
"I hate you," Shade muttered.
"Come on, don't say that. Deep down, I know you love me."
Shade disappeared into black smoke. Uriel turned his face, watching his beautiful chair now occupied by Shade, who held a wine glass with an arrogant smile, with no trace of his previous attitude.
"Did you do this entire scene just to steal my chair?"
"Yes," he replied, taking a slow sip of his wine.
"Give it back."
"Make me get up from here if you can."
Uriel felt his annoyance begin to grow before the day had even started.
Shade just chuckled softly, pouring himself more wine.
"Though, well, you have a point."
"In what?" asked Uriel.
"Deep down, in my infinite wickedness, I love you a little."
"I knew I shouldn't have let you look through my memories of Van Helsing."
"It's too late. Ten years too late."
"Did you just make a reference to me?"
"Did you like it?"
"It was pretty cool."
"Yeah, I know. I'm the lord of references, and I never miss a good reference."
"Anyway. Why did it take you so long this time?"
"Well, it's been busy months. I was exploring a bit of Godgrave, though not too much—I didn't want to disturb the cursed tyrant inhabiting that jungle. Then I went to the Stormsea to investigate the city made by the Demon of Repose that Daeron mentioned, though I wasn't very lucky in that regard."
"Is it really that hard to find?"
"Uriel. The Stormsea is just as vast as the entire Dream Realm; the Nightmare Hunt has only explored a tiny fraction of it without venturing into its more dangerous waters. Besides, it's not easy to find something that's at the bottom, where the pressure is enough to crush great beasts."
"Still, Daeron managed to get there."
"Because he had the lineage of the Storm Goddess; they're like ultimate guides. They can go wherever they want, whenever they want, unlike us who lack divine lineages."
"Do you want a divine lineage?"
"Nah. We don't need one."
"Anyway, I ran into the Dutchman."
"That ghost thing that releases specters in endless waves?"
"Yeah, that one."
"I ran into him—or rather, he found me. We fought for a while, until Stygia joined the fight and began consuming the specters and ghost ships, which forced the Dutchman to retreat like the coward it is."
"Shade, language."
"Though enough about me. Did anything happen while I was gone?"
"Uhm, not much. Just attending to customers, hearing one rumor or another here and there. Oh, and Cassie stopped by?"
Shade paused.
"Cassie?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Well, she wants me to translate something. Apparently, my version of the Third Nightmare created a memory in the form of a personal diary for us to read." He paused, organizing his thoughts. "It doesn't use rune language, but that language we invented when we were bored."
Shade refilled his glass with more wine.
"I see."
"Do you think she still believes I'm alive?" asked Uriel.
"Who knows. Though I'd bet she has her suspicions," replied Shade.
"What do you base that argument on?"
"Because as far as I know, our recreated version by the spell was corrupted by the Corruption and killed. And since, for them, I had entered the Tomb first and then been corrupted and killed, it should be enough for my death. Add to that Sunny lost his fate, and no one remembers him or much about his Third Nightmare."
"You have a point," said Shade.
"However, you're forgetting something. Cassie's powers are related to memories, so she would notice if she was missing memories. Besides, Cassie is shrewd and knows you well. With that diary you mentioned and if she came, then she suspects you're alive, even if she has no way to confirm it. The same could be said for Sunny."
"You say that because she discovered that her future version visited the Tomb."
"Yes. Sunny could have reached the conclusion—or at least the supposition—that the Uriel of the Third Nightmare was a recreation by the Spell, similar to what it did with Ananke."
"Now, as for the other members of the Cohort, it's unlikely. They're too busy. Nephis is with Valor in dangerous zones, so she doesn't have time to think about everything that happened during their Third Nightmare, not to mention they're missing large parts of their memories of that event, just like the others."
"Don't tell me you regret it now?"
"I don't," said Uriel.
Shade looked at his other self with reproach. He shook his head with amusement.
"Uriel, you're deceiving yourself."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, who knows." Shade stood up.
"Well, I'm going to sleep." Shade stretched his body, making his bones crack. "I haven't slept in a long time."
"When was the last time you slept?"
"I stopped counting after three weeks."
"Well, good night," said Shade as he walked toward Uriel, disappearing into a black mist that seeped into his body, his presence fading away.
Uriel felt Shade's consciousness shut off deep within his mind, a sign that he was now asleep.
Uriel looked at the horizon, noticing the first rays of sunlight beginning to appear.
It was a new day, and with it, another day of work at his shop.