Sunny was dreaming, which was a rare thing, but not impossible.
What he saw was a tall mountain, but he concentrated on a specfic part.
There, hidden in the depths of a towering mountain, there was a vast cavern which was filled with darkness. A single ray of bright light fell from somewhere high above, illuminating a small island rising from the glossy black water.
There was a beautiful tree growing on the island, its leaves a sea of pale magenta. As the branches of the tree swayed slightly under the wind, the leaves fell down on the surface of the water, making its reflection ripple.
And in the shadow of those branches, a simple stone sarcophagus stood, its lid covered by withered leaves.
The island he dreamed of was peaceful, like an island of safety and tranquility in a world full of nothing but dread. And yet... it was also poignant and mournful.
As soon as Sunny entered the cavern, he felt a strange melancholy fill his heart, as though an echo of a great sorrow that had been experienced here by someone, sometime, still resided in this sacred island
Sunny felt a strange kinship, with this place as if something of his was here and it felt as if his grief, his sadness was being reciprocated by this place and he felt something in this place
He felt a pull, to go to the tree and so he did, he walked slowly towards the tree.
He walked for a few moments and was ten meters away from the tree.
And he started observing the tree. There was one thing standing out about it, one of its branches was hanging lower than any other branch.
On that branch was a heavy beautiful glistening Golden fruit.
Without even realizing it, Sunny was walking closer to the tree, more accurately would be saying, he was walking towards the fruit, like his blood, bones and even his soul desired to be one with it.
When he reached the tree, he was standing next to the sarcophagus.
He then looked up and looked straight at the golden fruit.
He put his arms up and put his hands on the Golden fruit, pulling it off the tree branch without any problems.
He then lowered his arms and again looked at the fruit for a few moments, like he was feeling something inside the fruit, before eating it in a few breaths.
After he ate it, he regained his normal attitude
And he felt like he was freed of a mindhex.
He was flooded, with the memories of what he did up until this point.
'What...'
Before he could analyze what was happening in this strange dream and organize his thoughts, he let out a terrible shriek and fell on the lid of the sarcophagus.
The pain... was exquisite.
It was inconceivable.
It was the kind of pain that could kill a person, or at least make the pass out in an instant. Sadly, the latter did not happen, because the pain was not physical.
Instead, its source was Sunny's soul, which was being altered and transformed.
Not in a way it had been changed every time a new core was formed, but rather in a way his blood and bones had been altered in the past.
"Aaargh!"
Sunny hit the lid of the sarcophagus with enough force to split his skin and fell to the ground, the carpet of leaves softening his fall.
'Wh—what... what the hell?! How... is... this possible?!'
He knew what was happening to him. However, he had no idea why it was happening, and how being in a dream resulted in him, getting another part of weaver's forbidden lineage.
In any case, Sunny had no choice but to endure.
He wasn't shy about screaming and howling in pain, though, especially because there was no one here to witness his sorry state.
"D-damn it! Damn it! D...damn it all!"
After an eternity - this time, quite a literal one, considering that time did not exist in a dream - Sunny found himself laying on the ground, staring blindly at the beautiful crown of the mystical tree. His body felt weak, and his face was wet with tears.
...Curses.
That one was definitely going into the collection of the most horrendous agonies he had experienced. What place?
Probably not the first, which was still held by activating the [Where is my eye?] enchantment of Weaver's Mask. But it was a confident second.
Sunny groaned, and then shakily rose to his feet. Then looked at his surroundings, he looked around and then feel into deep thought, trying to understand what was happening and why he wasn't waking up after he felt all this pain.
Sunny recalled and inspected every little thing about this strange dream he was having. Then he looked at the ground and looked at the sarcophagus.
'Why is a sarcophagus in my dream and mostly importantly, why have i gotten another part of weaver's forbidden lineage...'
He then put the puzzle pieces together and came to the conclusion it had something to do with...
'Weaver!'
He knew it had something to do with him, but he didn't see a connection between Weaver, a sarcophagus, a tree with a golden fruit and a island hidden in the depths of a towering mountain.
Then, he took inventory of his soul.
It felt... different, somehow. And much, much more potent.
Already knowing what he would see, Sunny summoned the runes.
It can't be... can it?
But it could.
There, in the shimmering field of runes, a new string appeared in the list of his Attributes.
Pale as a ghost, Sunny read:
Attributes: [Fated], [Flame of Divinity], [Master of Shadows], [Blood Weave], [Bone Weave], [Marble Shell]...
And at the very end, a new one:
[...Soul Weave.]
He sucked in air, stunned.
'How the hell...'
Concentrating on the new string, he read the description:
Attribute Description: [You have inherited a part of Weaver's forbidden lineage. Your soul has been altered and imbued with stalwart potency.
A lonely demon shed tears standing above a forgotten grave. A tree grew from the ground where the demon's tears fell, and from it grew a wondrous fruit. That very fruit resonated with the sadness of a treacherous divine shadow and thus pulled him into a dream of the Estuary of the Tomb of Ariel.]
'I'm dreaming of the Estuary...'
Sunny then dismissed his runes.
He was left speechless. He wasn't prepared to hear that he was dreaming of the Estuary, and the very thing that brought him here was a fruit that came from the tear of the Daemon of fate.
He shifted slightly.
'Why... why is there a grave here?'
The great black pyramid was called the Tomb of Ariel, but it was not the place where the Demon of Dread had been buried. Instead, it was a place he had built to bury unbearable truths. So, it was not really a tomb.
...Or was it?
Sunny stared at the unadorned sarcophagus, struck silent by the overwhelming sorrow that remained here even now, thousands of years after the daemons and the gods were no more.
He knew that the Tomb of Ariel was not a burial place for someone because of the words the Demon of Dread had shared with Weaver. Ariel had said so himself - what he had buried here were the hideous truths he did not wish to remember.
But that was the thing. If Ariel did not remember what he had buried in this tomb of his, then didn't it mean that his words could not be trusted?
Who was to say that he had not buried someone precious here, and then chose to forget about his sorrow?
Suddenly, Sunny remembered the description of the Mirror of Truth. Weaver's strange words...
[I have not known that you've built a tomb, nor have I ever seen it. How would I know to admire it? I just happened to be here by chance. Now that I've seen it, my heart is untouched. I feel nothing.
You wanted to be free of the truth, so you didn't deserve it.]
Why did it feel... that although Ariel had forgotten his sorrow, Weaver remembered?
Had the Demon of Fate really happened to visit the Nightmare Desert and stumble upon the great pyramid by chance?
And if it was not a coincidence...
Then who was buried here, at the heart of Ariel's Tomb?
Forlorn, and forgotten.
Looking at the sarcophagus that rested under the branches of the beautiful tree, Sunny inhaled sharply.
'Oblivion. The answer... is Oblivion.'
The Tomb of Ariel was where the Demon of Oblivion had been buried by her brother. Somehow, he was sure of it.
Wasn't it sad, even for her death to be forgotten?
'Wait, no... no, that doesn't make any sense!'
Suddenly, Sunny was confused. How could Oblivion have been dead? Six daemons had risen in rebellion against the heavens, while the seventh - Weaver - refused.
Because of that, the Demon of Fate had been despised and hunted both by the six daemons and the six gods.
If Oblivion had been dead all along, then how could there have been six daemons participating in the war and pursuing Weaver?
Something... fundamentally did not make sense about all this.
It was already shocking enough to find out he was dreaming of the Estuary, and then get a piece of weaver's lineage. But why was a fragment of Weaver's lineage left there?
If anything, it should have been Oblivion's lineage... apart from the fact that no daemon except for the Demon of Fate had created one.
It was as though Weaver lost a part of his... her?... soul at the grave of Oblivion, for some reason. But why?
How had the two of them been connected?
And did it have something to do with the strange incongruity in the number of daemons that had participated in the Doom War?
Sunny did not know.
But all of it... was highly suspicious.
'I'm gonna discuss this with Cassie, when I get out of this strange dream'
Sunny the called for his shadow nightmare to come to him. But nightmare didn't come.
Sunny called again and again.
But after a while he gave up.
He realized that the fruit, that pulled him here was above nightmares power over dreams. So sunny decided to lay his hands behind his head and the lay his whole body against the bark of the tree, for he knew that he wasn't pulled here to die. If it really wanted him dead, he would already be dead.
Sunny choose to close his eyes and hope to get out.
After a while sunny felt like he was falling and decided to open his eyes, he saw a void. There was nothing but pure darkness, it was like he was falling in the sky below again.
After a few moments sunny lost consciousness.
***
He tried opening his eyes, but they felt like they were glued shut.
He tried again and they opened slightly and he saw a bright light and his face felt wet.
He then opened his eyes more and saw that nehpis was above him and looking at him but he couldn't make her face out because his eyes were blurry.