A being of made of shadows stood at the jagged edge of the highest floor of the Crimson spire as it watched the descending figures of its master's past self and Changing Star as they dove for the gateway.
A slow, satisfied smile stretched across its face.
'Good for them.'
It had always liked Changing Star, though whether that was due to her being the master's lover when it was 'born' or for some other reason it didn't know.
Nor did it bother to contemplate it too hard.
Yawning, it turned its head.
'Was my master always this careless when he was younger?'
Its gaze slid to the unconscious form of Caster. The Sleeper was surrounded by a vast net of chains made of shadows. They held back an avalanche of rubble, the stones ranging from pebbles to gargantuan monoliths.
A fist-sized stone suddenly broke loose from somewhere above, plummeting at extreme speed. It struck a jutting shard, ricocheted at an absurd angle, and shot straight toward Caster's temple.
Before it could land, a new chain snapped into existence, intercepting the stone mid-flight.
The being clicked its tongue.
'It seems Fate is trying it's hardest to ruin our plan, well, it'll have to try harder than that.'
Stretching languidly, it cast one last look toward the distant gateway far below.
'Time to go.'
In an instant, the shadow disappeared from the spire.
Seconds later, a brilliant light erupted from the gateway. Once it faded, the chains of shadow crumbled and the mountain of rubble they had held aloft crashed down.
In the soul sea of its young master, the shadow floated lazily with its hands behind its head, it looked upon the four dark suns.
'It's gonna be a while before I can pull another stunt like that…'
It drifted in a slow circle, utterly unbothered.
'Oh well... More rest for me.'
Lazy thought as it closed its eyes and let the current carry it wherever it pleased.
***
Cassie floated in an endless void, illuminated by countless stars. Silvery threads stretched between them in an impossibly vast web.
She clutched her head as horror lanced through her mind.
She saw a future drenched in ruin. A world collapsing under a tide of darkness. People she loved falling one by one. A shadow swallowing the last light. Sunny's silhouette pierced by a thousand swords. Nephis burning from the inside out, and humanity burning with her under a shattered moon.
Tears streamed down her face as she screamed.
The vision surged toward its final, horrifying moment but just before it reached that terrible conclusion, something shifted.
The edges of the vision began to blur, the catastrophic future unraveled strand by strand.
Cassie gasped, blinking through the tears.
The potential future was still there… but now it was no longer alone.
New visions flickered through her mind, hundreds, thousands, a vast tree of branching possibilities.
It was too much for her to take in all at once.
Some were dim and sickly, full of corruption, sorrow and loss. Others burned with harsh, unforgiving light. A few shimmered with hope.
And then there were the rare ones. Futures where triumph was possible. Futures where they survived.
The future was no longer a single, suffocating path.
Warmth started to bloom in her chest.
Fate was no longer immutable.
The spell spoke, its voice filling the void with melodious whispers.
[The Second Seal is broken.]
***
[Awakening dormant powers…]
Just like after the First Nightmare, Sunny suddenly sensed something waking up within him.
His shadow cores were radiation an ethereal, but almost palpable heat. The energy was circulating through his entire body, changing it, making it stronger. It was somewhat similar to the strange feeling he got every time he received a shadow fragment, but so much more powerful.
With a barely audible gasp, Sunny slowly sat down and crossed his legs, then closed his eyes, concentrating on the transformation.
Beneath the physical changes that his body was undergoing to become better, stronger, more perfect… was another, subtle, but equally incredible change to his soul.
Sunny had no words to describe it, but knew that he had never experienced anything as wonderful. It felt… natural, right, and profound. As though he was coming one step closer to becoming complete, to what he had always been meant to be.
Soon, the pulsating waves of heat retreated, replaced by a wave of soothing coldness.
He exhaled slowly and opened his eyes.
His body felt stronger, faster, and more enduring, similar to how he felt when wrapped in the shadow.
The Spell spoke again.
[Awakening Aspect Ability…]
[...Aspect Ability acquired.]
[Aspect Ability Name: Shadow Step.]
Sunny blinked, then hurriedly summoned the runes.
Aspect Ability: [Shadow Step].
Ability Description: [You can move freely between shadows, traveling from one to another in an instant.]
Looking at the shimmering runes, Sunny soon discovered that there was a stupid grin on his face.
'Teleportation… that's teleportation, right?'
That was, without a doubt, a form of teleportation.
He couldn't wait to experiment and learn the extent of his new ability
The Spell suddenly whispered into his ear.
[Wake up, Sunless!]
And instantly, the black void full of bright stars and silver light disappeared.
***
In an armored room deep under the Awakened Academy stood a simple sleeping pod.
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then the pod ignited with blinding white light and he medical instruments surrounding it came alive in a frenzy.
The lid hissed, then slid open with the sound of soft hydraulics.
A young woman stepped out.
Her skin was pale as ivory, her long silver hair cascading down her back in tangled waves.
She looked down at herself, and seeing that she was naked, she summoned her armor
The Starlight Legion Armor materialized around her in a cascade of shimmering motes… and Nephis frowned.
The once-pristine plates were battered, scorched, and torn in places.The armor looked like it had survived a war, and in truth, it had.
Before she could examine it further, the heavy door at the far end of the chamber slid open with a sharp hiss. A woman in a white coat rushed inside, she stopped dead in her tracks the moment she saw Nephis standing beside the open pod.
Her eyes widened. Her mouth fell open. For a heartbeat, she simply stared.
Nephis, remembering the social lessons she learned on the Forgotten Shore, offered the woman a polite smile.
"May I get some clean clothes?"
The doctor blinked rapidly, as though trying to confirm that the figure before her was not a hallucination. Her voice trembled when she finally managed to speak.
"Slee… Lady Changing Star? You—you are awake?"
'Lady… did she just call me lady?'
Nephis tilted her head slightly, glancing from the empty pod to the stunned doctor and back again. Her brow furrowed.
"Yes? How else would we be talking?"
The doctor finally seemed to relax and looked at her with a relieved, joyous expression in her eyes.
A few moments later, she smiled slightly and said, her voice full of sincere admiration.
"Welcome back to the real world, my lady!"
***
Sunny left the office of the government agents in a strange mood.
The conversation went exactly as he had planned. Even after a higher-ranking specialist had been called in, he managed to steer the interview in the right direction, manipulating both answers and questions to achieve the desired result. In the end, he wanted everyone to know that he was someone exceptional… but not so exceptional as to overshadow the best of the best.
Even though he had kept his most outrageous accomplishments to himself, it felt weird to give away so many secrets about his skill, power level, and achievements. Sunny had grown so used to pretending to be a pathetic clown that removing that mask to reveal another, less outlandish mask was not easy for him.
And yet, it was something he had to do.
After he had Awakened, there was not a single moment for him to properly think things through. He had to go through a series of medical and psychological tests, followed by a lengthy debriefing.
He sighed as he walked down the corridor.
All it would take to ruin everything, his freedom, his future, was for someone to ask the wrong question.
Do you have a true name?
If anyone asked that, he would have to kill them. Just like he'd killed Harper.
Sunny groaned, would the awakened of the dreamer army expose him?
The hunters would probably keep their mouths shut, but the others?
"Damn it." he muttered as he leaned against the wall. The cool metal pressing against his back.
Maybe he should just disappear. Become a recluse. Hide somewhere quiet and safe where no one would bother him, where no one would ask dangerous questions.
He shook his head almost immediately.
No. The last time he'd isolated himself, he'd nearly gone insane. And unlike before his First Nightmare, he had friends now. Real ones. People he couldn't just abandon.
He pushed off the wall with another sigh and rounded the corner
Sunny suddenly found himself in the middle of a small crowd of people. Dozens and dozens of young men and women were standing in the middle of a small hall, most dressed in the simple training clothes provided by the hospital, just like he himself was. On their faces, there was an indescribable kaleidoscope of emotions: joy, sorrow, worry, anticipation...
Most were looking at a small screen displaying a long list of names.
These were the survivors of the Dreamer Army.
Sunny hesitated for a moment, then looked at the list of names displayed on the screen.
Before he could read anything, however, someone quickly approached… and hugged him tightly.
'What the…'
Looking up, Sunny saw a vaguely familiar young man holding him in a passionate embrace. A moment later, the young man let go of him and looked down with glistening eyes:
"Sunny! You are here, too!"
Before he could even answer, a somber expression appeared on the young man's face. In a voice that trembled with emotion, he said:
"Thank you! Thank you so much, Sunny. If it wasn't for you and your shadow, we would have never made it to the Gateway."
At the sound of these words, the others turned around. As soon as they saw Sunny, bright smiles ignited on their faces. A hum of voices rose from the crowd:
"Guys! It's Sunny!"
"Thank you, man!"
"We will never forget what you did for us!"
Sunny stared at them, dumbfounded.
'Weird… this is so weird…'
Ever since he had come to his senses near the sleeping pod, mundane humans were treating him with the utmost respect. They even went so far as to use honorifics, calling him "sir" or "Awakened Sunless".
And now this… why was everyone so friendly and happy to see him? Only his friends and the hunters acted like this towards him.
Was this what it was like, to be an Awakened?
After dozens of young people came closer to shake his hand or happily pat him on the shoulder, he awkwardly smiled.
"Uh… it's nice to see you too, guys."
The young woman who was currently facing him smiled in response. Then, however, her face turned dark with worry.
"Have you heard anything about Lady Nephis after coming back?"
Sunny blinked, then nodded.
"Yeah. We entered the gateway together. We were the last ones, so she's probably being interviewed right about now."
A collective sigh of relief washed over the crowd.
"Thank the gods," someone whispered.
The young woman continued, voice trembling slightly.
"That's great. We were starting to get worried. They're still counting the survivors, but with you and Lady Nephis safe, that only leaves seven unaccounted for."
Sunny's expression darkened.
"Who are the seven?"
She swallowed.
"Sir Caster and six of the guards. No one saw them near the gateway… Do you think they went to help Lady Nephis?"
Sunny almost winced. How could she know that Caster and his goons were traitors? That they'd tried to kill Nephis? That Sunny had personally broken Caster and ensured he wouldn't be returning?
He shook his head.
"I don't think so. When I reached the top of the spire, the Terror was already dead, and Neph was alone."
The woman's voice wavered.
"I see… someone said he died. Maybe Lady Nephis knows more."
Sunny lingered for a few seconds, a grim expression on his face, then squeezed her shoulder lightly and quietly walked away.
A/N: Sooo, about the whole 'back to a weekly schedule' thing... I don't have much of an excuse...
I just got lazy, I also broke my finger, but it was mostly laziness.
Sorry bout that.
Let me know how I did on the chapter.