Deciding to permanently keep the Ghastly Hunger summoned, Sunny contemplated the best position for him to take a nap.
'It'll be another three or four hours before I can go back to the Waking World. Being an Awakened Demon really halved the necessary time…'
He wondered how quickly he could leave the Dream Realm after becoming a Devil. Once he was a Titan, he might be able to leave thirty minutes after sleeping!
Not that he planned on being stuck as an Awakened until he became a Titan.
Sunny constantly rotated his body, laying on his left side, right side, and stomach. Not finding that sweet spot, he could only sigh as he laid on his back. Seemingly unable to go to sleep, he planned on staring blankly at the ceiling until he could…
'…Why is my ceiling on fire?'
It was a small flame, around the size of his torso. Strangely enough, the fire didn't spread whatsoever. It burned silently, a soft crackling sound being emitted from it as he felt the warmth it exuded.
A baffled expression on his face, Sunny turned to look at the Sparkle doll he had — the one with a very special opening. Ignoring that, he narrowed his gaze at it's smug face, feeling as if there was a hint in it's eyes.
"…Oh."
Suddenly, a figure leaped out of the flames, barreling straight for Sunny. Before he could roll out of the way, he felt a pair of legs jab into his stomach. A breath of air was forcefully pushed out of his lungs, causing him to gasp. Despite the chaos, he caught a glimpse at a pair of flower-shaped pupils, two black dots, and a grin that quickly turned awkward once her eyes rested upon him.
Rolling off the bed, Sunny immediately sprang up to his feet with a scowl.
"What was that for?!"
'This demoness was really has a twisted way of showing affection…'
Casually taking a seat at the edge of his bed, Sparkle crossed one leg over the other, causing the bottom of her kimono to rise up for a few moments.
His eyes locked onto the prize for a second, before returning to her ever-smiling face. Was it just him, or did it grow a little wider?
Resting her head on a hand, she used the other mindlessly played with a strand of hair. At least, it would have been mindless if a Clown like her didn't have such absolute control over her body.
"…Let's just forget about that, shall we? I mean, who sits right under a fire? Oh, right. You do."
Sunny opened his mouth for a second, before closing it once she answered her own question.
"…Out with it. What do you want?"
Shaking her head in mock disappointment, Sparkle summoned her storage Memory — a small sack — and reached into it. After a few seconds of searching, she pulled out a stack of stapled together paper that couldn't have possibly fit within it.
As she held them out to Sunny, he furrowed his brows as he took them. Giving them a quick scan, he found that they were printed. As there were no printers in the Dream Realm, it was obviously brought from the Waking World.
'Kaor, Shim, Erlas… huh?'
Those sounded like names.
Across from the names was a section that gave an in-depth description of the person, detailing their origins, photos, personality, and Aspects along with any other relevant information.
Frowning, Sunny wasn't able to figure out what these papers were specifically referring to.
"What are these for?"
Sparkle proudly smirked.
"Knowing you, you would have bumbled through any interactions with people that you forgot, so I'm giving you the means to not completely mess up when talking to the Abyss Watchers."
Sunny blinked.
"The what?"
Her smirk froze on her face, before reverting to a more simplistic smile.
"Right… you don't know who those are."
Coughing into her fist, she explained:
"The Abyss Watchers are your own personal army."
Sunny blinked again.
"…Huh?"
Sparkle nodded.
"Yep. Basically, you have over a hundred Awakened at your beck-and-call. Most of them are here in the Chained Isles, while the rest are spread all across the Dream Realm as spies for the Great Clans. There's a pair of twins in Bastion, one in Ravenheart, and another in one of the Citadels of the Stormsea."
Bastion was the main Citadel of the Valor Clan, who's territory eclipsed the eastern portions of human settlements within the Dream Realm — the Chained Isles were apart of that territory.
Ravenheart was the same for the Song Clan, which was in the west. The Stormsea was the southernmost explored region of the Dream Realm, and was a vast ocean that spanned from the far east to the far west. It was mainly ruled by the House of Night, which mainly consisted of those who had Aspects suitable for exploring or fighting at sea.
Sunny pursed his lips.
"And why exactly do I need to spy on the Great Clans?"
Sparkle tilted her head.
"The real question is: why wouldn't you?"
After a moment, Sunny nodded.
"Good point."
Who knew what secrets those long-lasting coalitions had? With history that spanned over thousands of years, it was inevitable that their knowledge vastly eclipsed the common folk.
Sparkle continued:
"Anyways, the Abyss Watchers are survivors of the Forgotten Shore. I'm sure you remember what that one Master said; the people who made it out of there alive are monsters."
Based on his journal, the Forgotten Shore was situated to the north, beyond the areas conquered by humans. It was separated from them by the Hollow Mountains, which were not only a death zone — which means that even Saints couldn't survive it — but were visible from the Chained Isles, looming in the distance.
Sunny placed a hand on his chin in contemplation.
"So… I have some of the best Awakened in two worlds under my command?"
He suddenly came across a realization.
Those people he had randomly encountered in front of his door must have been part of the Abyss Watchers!
They had told him that one of the spies in Bastion had gained some information about damage to their supply chains, which further proved this theory.
Looking down at the papers in his hands, he understood that the purpose of them was so that he could do his job properly. After all, it would be weird if their boss started to act like they were strangers.
Out of the corner of his eye, Sunny saw the Haughty shadow straightened up at the thought of being the leader of a private militia.
'This guy…'
Sunny sighed, sitting down next to Sparkle. Thanks to his perfect memory granted by [The War], he could simply flip through the papers once to memorize everything. However, he needed some extra assistance when it came to both acting, as well as to fill him in on any extra information that he believed would be important, but wasn't included.
The former would have been easy for him, but his Flaw heavily restricted his ability to deceive others. So… why not get a master performer to help him create the perfect mask?
Turning to Sparkle, Sunny simply stared at her beaming face for a moment, before sighing.
"Can you… please… help me plan out how I'm supposed to act?"
He asked through gritted teeth, obviously not comfortable with genuinely asking for assistance.
At his request, Sparkle placed her hands on her cheeks, which grew rosy as she made the expression of a young maiden in love.
Of course, Sunny could clearly tell that she was using her profound bodily control to create such an expression.
"How romantic of you! To ask me out on a study date… that's something I'd never expect from you!"
With an emotionless face, Sunny reached out, grabbed one of Sparkle's twintails, and pulled with the strength of an Awakened Demon.
Sparkle was snapped out of her charade as she yelped.
"H—Hey! Alright, alright, I get it, I'm sorry…!"
Once he let go, Sparkle pouted as she began to complain:
"Who taught you to treat a lady like that? If that's how rough you are now, then I wouldn't dare imagine how rough you would be in be—"
She couldn't finish her last word, as Sunny repeated his earlier actions.
"What an unclean mind. Maybe ripping your hair off will take out all that perverted stuff with it."
Sparkle, who was getting very annoyed by the hair-pulling, lunged towards him in order to decrease the tension.
However, Sunny simply stepped out of the way, leisurely putting the stack of papers on the desk as he pulled Sparkle by the twintail.
"Ow~!"
Not finished yet, he grabbed her other twintail. Then, he augmented himself with one of his shadows as he began to rotate. Sparkle's eyes widened in horror, her smile having long fell from her face.
"You wouldn't…"
***
Spinning around, Sunny emptily gazed at Sparkle, who was being swung around by the hair. She kept reaching up in an attempt to dislodge her hair from his arms, but her arms were too short, and Sunny was much stronger than her.
Getting bored, he lazily tossed her to his bed, watching as dizzily slumped, groaning.
"Now are you going to help me or not?"