"Shadow… just let me… let me get them… please..!"
"Wait a few more minutes. There're people nearby."
Two weeks had passed since the incident with Valor, and Sunny had returned to the Chained Isles alongside Solvane. Jet had the day off, so she was currently spending the day with Nephis back home. He felt a little bad for not being there, but his friend had insisted on him going to the Dream Realm, saying something about it being a 'girls day'.
'Oh well…'
Serpent was nearby just in case anything happened anyways, having assumed the form of Aranea to be extra safe.
Honestly… it was getting to the point of which Sunny was beginning to question whether or not he was just being paranoid. It had been nearly two months now, and Valor had not been able to do anything to Nephis. Perhaps it was because he was doing a good job of hiding her, or perhaps it was because their attention was turned elsewhere.
'Maybe this is Thrain's work…'
Could Valor have been busy hunting down the remnants of the Immortal Flame clan, desperately searching for whoever they had entrusted Nephis to instead?
Too bad for them, the one person who knew where the girl was could no longer remember. And if everything had gone well, nobody else in the clan would know him either. The last of the Immortal Flame bloodline had been left with a stranger who had next to no relation with them. Even to him, it sounded unbelievable. If one day Valor fell, and for whatever reason the remaining members of their clan decided to leave Morgan with some random Awakened of dubious origins… he'd call them complete morons.
'Here we are I guess…'
"Shadow… look..! They're gone… so let me..?"
Sunny sighed.
"Okay… just stay still for a moment."
Sparks of essence began coalescing into a Memory around his face. Below them, Solvane was hungrily eyeing a Fallen Tyrant that was currently asleep. They had been looking for worthy enemies for a while now, and Sunny had finally found a good target on this random unnamed island they were on.
'Lucky bastards…'
The cohort of Awakened that had just passed through hadn't even noticed the Tyrant, crossing the island in complete safety. Lucky for them, the Tyrant had not noticed them either, instead remaining fast asleep while partially buried beneath the dirt as camouflage. Sparks continued appearing as the Memory he summoned continued weaving itself into existence. Solvane was already pulling at the collar of his shirt, trying to get him to go.
Finally the Memory appeared, a mask made of black lacquered wood with three twisting horns appearing on his face. [Simple Trick] was currently reversing Mercy instead of Clear Conscience, so he was ready to go.
Turning into a shadow, he wrapped himself around Solvane. Immediately, the world around him sharpened, details he hadn't even noticed about the world around him became vivid, but most importantly…
'Oh my…'
…he could smell blood. Its smell was sickeningly sweet, begging for him to come and get it, to come and take it.
'I see why she's like this now…'
The Wormvine that squirmed beneath Solvane's skin demanded to be satiated. He had once thought that she was a maniac that only cared about spilling blood, but now he saw it… Solvane actually had to have phenomenal self-control to be able to hold herself back like this all the time. It was probably easier to do so when there weren't hundreds of beings covered in blood not too far away, but still…
'I don't give her enough credit.'
"Go."
Solvane smiled madly, all of her teeth showing. Sunny could feel her manic glee as she laughed wildly, immediately leaping towards the Tyrant who was now slowly awakening as it reacted to her endless killing intent.
On a whim, Sunny sent away Weaver's Mask with a thought. A moment later, it appeared on Solvane's face instead.
Silver hair fluttered in the wind and obsidian skin glittered in the sunlight as they soared through the air. With a loud crash, they landed right in the middle of the now fully alert horde. Angry roars assaulted them and a swarm of shadows lunged towards them, guided by the Tyrant's will. Solvane spun with immense force, sending blood and guts flying in every direction.
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
The pitiful Beasts fell like grass, with many of them having already been injured and bleeding. The Tyrant and its minions seemed to have been locked in an intense battle not too long ago, as many of the abominations around them were covered in all sorts of wounds and cuts.
Solvane's smile widened further.
Oh how they bled…
Sunny mentally shuddered. That thought had not been his own. Perhaps fusing with his mad Shadow had not been the greatest of ideas.
She laughed, lunging towards another Beast.
"More..!"
Blood splashed and sprayed, painting the world red. Sunny could feel blood land on all parts of his body, sinking into his skin. The sensation made him inwardly gasp. It was as if a hunger he'd had for a long, long time was finally being satiated.
'More…'
Black vines squirmed beneath their skin, threatening, no, begging to burst forth.
'I was wrong… this thing isn't symbiotic. It seems far more parasitic.'
Ah, but then again a parasite was something that just sat around stealing nutrients from its host. The Wormvine however…
Sunny shuddered as he felt his upper body completely open up, fetid vines exploding outwards in every direction. Howls and wails echoed across the land as blood seeped into the earth. He could feel even more blood being absorbed into himself through the vines, satiating his endless hunger. Weaver's Mask clattered to the ground, sinking into a bloody puddle as there was no longer a face to hold it. The abyssal black eyeholes seemed to stare at the sun in thought as another spray of blood washed over it.
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
[You have slain…]
"Hahahaha!"
Despite no longer having a mouth, Solvane laughed.
A deep roar that shook the island from its sheer intensity came from above them as a shadow fell over them. Countless black vines shot towards the Tyrant as it tried to attack, wrapping itself around the abomination's limbs and halting its assault. A moment later, the shadows beneath surged and materialised into dark spikes, skewering the mighty beast through its stomach and feet, attempting to immobilise it.
'Stay still.'
As Mercy was currently being reversed, neither him or his Shadows could kill anything Fallen or stronger. The Tyrant would simply have to wait as it watched its minions get slaughtered like cattle.
Solvane leapt towards the abomination's head as some of the vines temporarily reformed into an arm. A terrible blow landed on the center of the abomination's skull, immediately causing its legs to weaken as it collapsed to the ground in a daze.
The horde of nightmare creatures around them seemed to stumble as well, the Tyrant's control temporarily slipping.
'Gods…'
With another mad laugh, the slaughter continued.
***
Blood dripped, seeping into the earth. The last of the Tyrant's minions had finally been slaughtered, and it was time to finish the job. The abomination had recovered at some point, and had attempted to stop them several times now just to fail every single time. Every last one of them was going to die today, no matter what.
The Tyrant approached Solvane with weak steps, rivers of blood pouring from its wounds. Sunny could feel his entire body tense with excitement, as if being pulled towards the blood by an unseen force.
The Wormvine was truly a malefic being. From his memories, he remembered it being a creation of Aidre and Noctis, a being that fed on blood to replenish its soul essence. But having been with Solvane for so long, they had seemingly become two parts of a whole. And as humans could replenish soul essence without any outside forces, the Wormvine had adapted, now only wanting to feed on blood and guts to satiate itself. Sunny wasn't certain whether consuming blood made it stronger or not, but with time he'd probably be able to tell.
Right now though…
Most of Solvane's upper body had begun reforming, with only her back remaining completely open as vines stretched out like the limbs of an arachnid. The vines swept and searched the endless puddles of blood around them, looking for something. Not long after, they found it. Tendrils of darkness wrapped around Weaver's Mask, returning it to the hand of its wielder. Solvane slowly placed it on her now reformed face as the Tyrant roared for the last time.
With a mad laugh, she jumped towards the Tyrant and landed on its face. With her hands fully augmented by the fist Memory that Sunny had received from Ki Song, [Trounce Legate], Solvane began to tear into the abominations flesh. Joyous laughter echoed across the island as chunks of flesh were torn away. The Tyrant did its best to defend itself, but all attempts of prying the mad woman off its face were stopped by the sinister vines.
In a fit of desperation, the beast frantically swung its head around, causing Solvane to temporarily lose her grip. As the Shadow flew through the air, the Tyrant's maw snapped forward.
'Aaaand… now.'
Now inside the jaws of the abomination, Solvane's smile could no longer get any wider as Weaver's Mask vanished into a small cloud of sparks. The beast realised its mistake far too late, as the hands that had been tearing at its hard flesh on the outside now had full access to its squishy flesh on the inside. The Tyrant wailed as terrible blows landed one after the other inside of its body, and a couple seconds later, Solvane exploded straight through the top of its skull with a vicious uppercut.
Flying through the rain of gore, the Shadow took a deep breath and sighed in satisfaction.
[You have slain a Fallen…]
Sunny did not hear the Tyrant's name as he immediately unfused himself from his Shadow, coughing profusely.
"How… wonderful..!"
'How terrible…'
Slumping on the ground, he felt himself shuddering all over. That may have perhaps been one of the worst things he had ever experienced. Fusing with his Shadow hadn't exactly been painful, but the intense emotions that constantly assaulted his mind were… not pleasant.
Sunny could've sworn he felt something squirming beneath his skin now as well, and could only pray it was his mind playing tricks on him.
Panting heavily despite having not exerted himself at all, he rolled over and covered his eyes with a forearm, not wanting blood in his nostrils but also not wanting the sun in his eyes.
'Oh… gods…'
Fighting as Solvane was… both disgusting and euphoric. He really, really never wanted to do it again. But unfortunately, he was probably going to do it anyway. Because despite how unpleasant the entire experience had been, he had gotten what he wanted.
'Totally… worth it…'
Sunny had not fused with his Shadow for fun. He had a very specific goal in mind. Since Solvane was a Shadow born from the Echo of a human, as a Transcendent she had the capability of absorbing spirit essence. So by augmenting her, he was able to understand exactly how the absorption of said essence felt like. As Aidre had told him, the first step to Transcendence was the ability to feel and pull on spirit essence. And the method he had devised of learning it was a far more efficient method than trying to understand it through meditation or by shadowing a Saint or something.
'This must be the way.'
He remembered a couple months when he had been by Tyris' side during the subjugation of the islands surrounding the Sanctuary of Noctis. He had tried to observe the process of absorbing spirit essence from her, but failed to comprehend much. Now he realised it was likely because he was shadowing the wrong kind of being. Tyris was a human after all, while he was a shadow. He was far better off learning from Shadows than he was humans. The difference wasn't immense, but it was noticeable enough for him.
Hearing the sickening squelch of the Wormvine tearing apart the Tyrant's corpse to feast upon it, Sunny plugged his ears.
'Still though, I don't… I don't think I can do this too often.'
Without his true name, there was a real risk of him losing his mind if he remained with his Shadow for too long. Even just now, they had only been fighting for a little bit, and he was reeling in disgust and discomfort. Feelings of hunger and pleasure that were not his own lingered in his mind as well.
'I miss Saint…'
Saint would never have been like this. Her mind would've probably been calm and peaceful… It pained him greatly that Solvane could only really absorb spirit essence in the midst of combat. She could absorb some while in the presence of shadows too, but it wasn't a meaningful amount. Sunny found more success just meditating on his own.
And speaking of Saint, he still wondered what happened to the [Stone Sword] he had received. It was supposed to be something like the Marble Shell, but it had seemingly vanished for some strange reason.
'Hopefully it shows itself one day.'
But until then…
"Shadow~! I'm… done…"
A shadow fell over him as Solvane stood next to him.
"Gimme a minute…"
His Shadow let out a dissatisfied sigh and crouched down, nudging his shoulder with a hand.
"Stop."
She ignored him, nudging him harder.
"Stooop."
She continued to ignore him, nudging him even harder.
"Okay fine!"
With an annoyed grunt, he rolled over and stood up, causing his Shadow to smile and laugh dumbly.
"What do you want? I still need a bit to consolidate everything."
"That's… fine… I'll… carry you..!"
Sunny paused, thinking about it.
"Hm…"
He thought about it some more.
"That would save us some time…"
…And that was how he ended up clinging to Solvane's back as she sprinted across the Chained Isles with a smile on her face.
'This is…'
It was a little embarrassing for sure, but honestly… being carried around like this was a little fun. It reminded him of Nightmare a bit, only if Nightmare were some deranged pretty lady instead.
Solvane was running so fast to the point where he had to wrap his arms around her collar as she firmly gripped his legs. Just for good measure, his face was buried in her shoulder as well to stop the wind from blowing his head back as he tried to meditate.
The sound of chains rattling filled his ears as his Shadow bounded from island to island, crossing hundreds of meters with a single leap.
'Hopefully no one sees this…'
Not only would it raise a lot of questions, it would point a lot of suspicions towards him as well… Fortunately, Solvane had fantastic eyesight, so she would be able to spot any stray Awakened before they spotted them. Today, they were going back to the Desecrated Grove to search for the special sapling once more. Sunny had little hope of finding it, especially without Serpent, but maybe, just maybe, the Wormvine inside Solvane would be able to feel its… sibling? He wasn't too sure how tree families worked. But Serpent and him had returned here a couple times now and had no luck. He wasn't expecting much, but since he had the time he thought he may as well try. Perhaps he would run into Mordret again as well, but he didn't count on it.
Hearing the sound of scraping dirt, he opened his eyes and looked up.
'Ah, we're here.'
A long trail had been left in the ground behind them, courtesy of Solvane's landing. A small cloud of dust was kicked into the air as well, floating idly in the air due to the lack of wind on the island.
Letting go of his Shadow, Sunny planted his feet on the ground while dusting himself off.
"Anything?"
Solvane remained silent for a moment, looking around.
"Yes…"
He perked up, eyes widening.
"Really?"
His Shadow nodded.
"Yes… this place… smells…"
She stopped for a moment, thinking.
"Like… shit…"
Sunny choked on his spit in an attempt to stop himself from laughing.
'Right… she did pick up some of Jet and me's language…'
Clearing his throat, he turned to her.
"Any guess as to why?"
Sunny himself had an idea as to what she was talking about. But all he could smell was dust and smoke.
"Something… here… stinks..!"
He nodded, smiling slightly.
"Well then… mind finding it?"
Solvane grimaced, pinching her nose while scrunching her face.
"Fine…"
With a swing of her hand, the ash that had begun slowly falling on them cleared. Taking hurried steps, they made their way inwards.
***
Tiny glass shards crunched beneath them as they continued further inward, the sound of charred wood crumbling filling the air every now and then.
"How close are we?"
"Around… here…"
Having finally made it close to the source of the stench, Solvane pointed down.
"Here, huh?"
Sunny looked at his Shadow expectantly.
"Well? Get digging then!"
The woman grumbled, walking forward as she uncovered her nose, scowling heavily. He would've manifested her a shovel, but her Transcendent strength likely would've destroyed it in seconds.
'Hm…'
As she began digging, he began to ponder slightly.
'Should I attempt to make her Supreme?'
The thought was always tempting. Who wouldn't want a Supreme Demon by their side? It would've been even better if she were a Devil, but he had no clue of how she would evolve just yet, and that was if she even could.
But the experience today had certainly shown him why it was a bad idea.
'If the Wormvine gets even stronger, would its need for blood grow as well?'
Although that wasn't at all how it worked for humans, he wasn't certain how a being like that would function when evolving. It was clear that Solvane's self-control was far stronger than he thought it was, likely tempered by the thousands upon thousands of years she had spent laying in the shipwreck. But that didn't mean he could count on her retaining that will once she became a Supreme.
'Maybe once I'm at least a Transcendent…'
Because then, even if Shadow went berserk he'd at least have the capability of stopping her. For now…
'I think I'll diversify.'
There was of course, the Covetous Coffer, or Coffee as Nephis had lovingly nicknamed him. In the past weeks, he had made leaps and strides in his progress in turning his Memory into an Echo. Even all the way back in the Tomb of Ariel, this was already something he had been working on.
'Once I finish this though… is it even worth getting him to Transcendent?'
The Coffer was certainly useful, but the part Sunny valued the most — the expanded space inside — mostly depended on his own essence capacity rather than the rank and class of his would be Echo.
He hummed in thought, rubbing his chin.
'What do I do then?'
There weren't a lot of options for him in terms of Shadows. His rate of obtaining Memories and Echoes were quite poor, so he couldn't just hope one would come eventually.
Perhaps… Perhaps it was time to start hunting down some worthy nightmare creatures in the hopes of receiving an Echo. His repertoire of Shadows was quite sad after all, with only Solvane and Serpent remaining after the loss of Shrike. He could already think of a target, but he wasn't sure if it was truly worth it. Because the target he had in mind was one even Sky Tide didn't think was worth approaching. It was the terrifying being that dwelled on an island that wasn't too far away from the Sanctuary, the Creature of the Lake, or a being that had once been Noctis' friend.
In the original version of the Nightmare, Sunny and his cohort had approached it to ask for the ruby knife, and it had only responded once Cassie approached. The look of sheer terror Cassia had on her face back then was one he could never forget. If it was something that could strike that much fear into an oracle of all things, he wasn't sure if it was a good idea to attack it…
But… he kind of wanted to. Every time he passed by that island, he could feel the creature's gaze fall on him, both curious and hungry. It hadn't done anything to him yet, but the presence of that thing was always in the back of his mind whenever he was near the Sanctuary.
'Maybe I'll ask Tyris for help…'
That was, if Sky Tide even trusted him enough for that. She probably trusted him as a person, but the fact she had never seen him actually fight was sure to be weighing on her mind.
'...Huh.'
Other than Tyris, there didn't seem to be anyone else he could ask for help. There was his fellow Divine Aspect wielder Mordret, but they had never even spoken and that guy was sure to be extremely weak at this point in time.
Sunny pondered some more.
'What if I tricked some Valor Saints into coming down here and fighting it?'
Or maybe even enlisting the help of someone like Master Cormac could do the trick…
'No.'
They were much too unreliable. There had to be better options out there…
But he couldn't think of any. It was only him and Shadows, and maybe Sky Tide.
'Hmmm. It'll probably have to be something else then.'
But try as he might, he couldn't think of anything that would be worth turning into a Shadow. Perhaps the Chained Isles had more notable beings once, but they had long been hunted and killed by Valor. He'd heard that the being that had been guarding the Sanctuary of Noctis was quite a frightful one, too bad for him it was long dead.
And despite all his pondering, he was getting nowhere. Because all his thoughts always circled back to one Shadow.
Saint.
The other Shadows he had once commanded… Fiend and Nightmare, the losses of them had not pained him nearly as much as Saint had. She had been one of his first true companions back in that desolate hell, the Forgotten Shore. Without her, he'd be long dead, and nobody could ever truly replace her. Solvane was decent company, but he still missed his taciturn Shadow dearly. Her silent focus, her unwavering will, her unmatched skill in battle…
Sunny sighed.
'Ah hell…'
He just couldn't stop thinking about it. And didn't he have a decent vessel for her as well?
Scoffing, he shook his head.
'Decent…'
The doll he had taken from the basement of the Ebony Tower… it was far from decent. It was broken, it was incomplete, and it was lifeless. He had once entertained the idea of maybe placing the shadow of Saint within it, but once he saw it again that thought was extinguished. Asterion had for whatever reason taken all the other dolls too, though he didn't think they'd be any better for what he was trying to do.
'I'll just… have to find a way, I guess.'
Perhaps there was a Citadel in the Shadow Realm that could help him. Surely there had to be something there, right? The Shadow Creation function Aspect had always been quite elusive, and if he didn't have the Spell, there was a strong possibility he would've never even discovered it. But there had to have been Divine Shadows in the past, so perhaps there was an instruction manual somewhere? He could only hope so.
Sunny glanced up as he heard the sound of something shifting underground.
A hand burst from beneath the ash, and Solvane emerged a moment later.
"Shadow… you were… thinking bad… about me… weren't you..?"
Laughing, he shook his head.
"Nope! Just thinking about someone way cooler than you."
His Shadow scowled, hiding her other hand behind her back.
"I guess… you don't… want this… then..?"
Sunny's eyes widened.
"You actually found it? Hold on now, what I meant to say was…"
Solvane smiled smugly, listening to her master's excuses as she hid a small tree seed behind her back.