Summary:
The Nightmare Spell is cruel, but not unfair.
Notes:
This is a what if on what if Sunny had a different aspect that wasn't shadow control. There will be lots of canon divergence, but I will try to keep to the important story beats.
Chapter 1: Golden TouchChapter Text
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your first trial…]
Sunny dreamt of a beautiful kingdom in the middle of the forest. The towering castle, the buildings, and even the roads were made of gold. However, beneath the beauty of the shiny gold, there was terror. The golden roads were littered with golden statues whose faces were filled with dread.
The rest of the land was barren, only the city of gold stood tall.
Suddenly, the moon fell over the horizon. The sun rose from the west, streaked across the sky, and disappeared in the east. From the ashes in the ground, decaying trees were formed and returned to bright tall trees. Sunny realized that he was seeing the flow of time in reverse.
In an instant, hundreds of years flew by. The forest returned, as the gold retreated in the castle.
Cold shivers ran down Sunny's back as he realized the golden city was just the sign of a monstrous being having established its home there.
A moment later, the kingdom was gone, and in its place, there was only darkness.
Time slowed, stopped, and then resumed its usual pace.
'The hell is this'
Sunny could feel metal shackles against his wrists and feet, as well as some type of blindfold over his eyes. Struggling for a moment, Sunny tried to free himself and take off whatever was covering his eyes.
While the shackles did not break, they did give when Sunny added as much force as he could. However, when said force was no longer applied it reeled back aggressively, slamming Sunny into the wall.
Calming down for a moment, Sunny stopped struggling. Whatever body he was in was not strong enough to break the chains and barely strong enough to cause it to move even slightly. Despite how grim the situation was Sunny was happy. He was in no immediate danger.
He could have woken up in a plethora of deadly situations, like a deadly mountain during winter. Sure the Spell threw him in a horrible situation compared to other aspirants who typically found themselves part of a warrior class, or at the very least some advantage to fight whatever foes they needed to wake up from the first nightmare. But so far, it was manageable.
However, that depended on his runes.
'Let's see how do I do this?'
Sunny thought back to popular webtoons he managed to read as a child.
Concentrating on words like "status", "myself" and "information" Sunny hoped he could still see his runes even while blindfolded. Thankfully, as soon as he focused, shimmering runes appeared in the darkness in front of him.
Although he did not know the ancient alphabet that was used, the meaning behind it was clear. He quickly found the runes describing his Aspect and attributes and smiled.
Perhaps fate was on his side because this was more than manageable.
***
Name: Sunless
True Name: —
Rank : Aspirant
Soul Core : Dormant.
Memories : —
Echoes : —
Attributes : [Fated], [Mark of Divinity], [Offspring of Avarice].
Attribut e Description :
Aspect : [Cursed Prince]
Aspect Description: [You are the descendant of a greedy and foolish king who used a wish from a dark and mysterious god to turn everything he touched into gold. His blessing turned into a curse. One passed to you. For that, you are used and abused for gold makes monsters of men.]
Sunny knew that his aspect was somewhat foreboding. Being cursed was not exactly what he imagined his aspect to be, nor was he being abused, but simply having 'Prince' in the name was enough for Sunny. The Spell would not hand that title over for no good reason. It was a flicker of hope amidst the rather dreadful description.
'Guess the officer had a point with no useless aspect. Let's see what these attributes are.'
They weren't as vital as an aspect, but attributes could be the difference between life and death. Natural traits and affinities were highlighted, sometimes even providing passive abilities and effects. Sunny was confident he had a passive ability from his aspect's description.
'Being cursed has its advantages.'
[Fated]
Attribute Description: "The strings of fate wrap tightly around you. Unlikely events, both good and bad, are drawn by your presence. There are those who are blessed, and there are those who are cursed… but rarely both."
[Mark of Divinity]
Attribute Description: "You bear a faint scent of divinity, as though someone briefly touched by it once, a long time ago."
[Offspring of Avaric]
Attribute Description: " Everything you touch turns into a lustrous gold whether you want it to or not."
Sunny's smile continued to widen. These attributes were almost too much.
Many people would read Fated and immediately assumed they had bad luck but the description made it clear both good and bad were drawn, and perhaps equally considering the Spell was all about balance.
'I guess it's to blame for these horrible circumstances.'
Mark of Divinity was another amazing attribute…or at least Sunny assumed. Divinity was never a bad thing at least.
Now his final attribute made Sunny smile the most.
'I'm going to be rich.'
The ability to touch anything into gold with a simple touch was dangerous and deadly, but that's exactly what Sunny wanted.
'Cursed power? This is a blessing!'
Sunny relaxed as his back was pressed against the brick wall of this dungeon. This First Nightmare was going to be a breeze. Or so Sunny thought. Hours upon hours passed and the silence and darkness, alongside his growing hunger, were going to drive Sunny insane.
All in all, he was in good spirits.
This nightmare wasn't quite a disaster just yet, and Sunny was no stranger to hunger. He spent his childhood as an orphan in the outskirts. Hunger was constant. He supposed he had no reason to have even feared the infection of the nightmare Spell. Granted being presented with the high likelihood of dying at 16 was unfortunate.
He did take several days to come to terms with it. He even visited his parents' resting place - well calling it a resting place was too nice for what it was considering he was too poor to afford even the cheapest slot in the remembrance facility, it was just two lines carved into an old tree - he even added a third line for himself.
Taking a deep breath Sunny closed his eyes which were pointless open behind the blindfold. Falling asleep, Sunny dreamt of nothing. Not surprising considering he was already in a Nightmare, but disappointing.
Hours passed.
Or maybe days.
Maybe even weeks. Well, maybe not weeks. He would have been dead already if that much time passed,
It was hard to tell. Time blurred when you did not indicate time, and until Sunny had a reason he would not pointlessly count the seconds.
'What a boring First Nightmare. Is it weird to say I'd be more relaxed in a dangerous situation? At least then I would know what's happening."
It's not that Sunny didn't appreciate the time to take a moment and relax, but the moment had gone on too long and his paranoia and cynicism were rising. Would his First Nightmare end with him dying of hunger and thirst? Surely it couldn't. The Spell was about balance. Right?
Finally after who knows how long, Sunny heard the door, or maybe the gate to this dungeon open.
"Eat up Your Highness," an old man said in a mocking tone as Sunny heard a metal plate being dragged across the floor as footsteps neared.
Suddenly rough hands grazed his face and ripped off his blindfold.
"Be grateful his majesty decided to give you a sliver of meat from the trash along with your bread and water today."
Sunny scowled. His warden was getting on his nerves, and it didn't help he wasn't a sight for sore eyes. His missing eye, bald head covered in scars, scraggly beard, awful smell, and asymmetric face were enough for Sunny to label him as hideous.
Sunny himself may not have been a picture of beauty but he felt that gave him enough right to determine when another person wasn't either.
Using the little amount of strength in his body Sunny pulled on the chains and grabbed the loaf of bread. Closing his eyes he brought it closer to his mouth.
'Finally, something to eat.'
Sunny bit down but recoiled when his teeth met a hard metal. Opening his eyes, Sunny was met with a solid gold loaf of bread.
At that moment, Sunny thought back to his runes.
'Everything you touch turns to gold…Damnation.'
Chapter 2: CursesNotes:
The sunny x firefly relationship tag was a mistake. i did not mean to put that. sorry guys
Chapter Text
"Has this dungeon finally made you an idiot? Forgetting how to eat. Worse than the peasants on the streets."
Sunny dropped the golden loaf and glared at Warden. If Sunny had anything to say about it, he would be the one to kill the man.
'I don't know how yet, but I will watch you die.'
Suddenly, Sunny's head was pushed into the slivers of meat.
"A dog glaring at its master? Be happy you have food mutt. Eat."
Sunny's glare did not let up, but hesitantly he started eating the morsels of meat on the tray. At the moment, he was no better than a dog. It infuriated him. His entire life he spent being treated like this, only for it to continue in this Nightmare.
Once the plate was empty, Warden released his hold on Sunny's head and let the chains reel him harshly against the wall. Knocking over the cup of water onto the ground he said, "Drink up." Sunny bent forward and started drinking the water off of the ground.
He may have hated doing so, but he was so thirsty. Sunny would bury his pride as long as it meant he would survive.
"Since you behaved well this time, I'll let you keep the blindfold off."
Sunny could barely stand the dehumanizing words and actions of his warden. Granted, he had experienced many dehumanizing events back in the waking world, but not quite to this level.
Lost in his thoughts of anger, he hadn't noticed that Warden left and closed his prison's gate. He was only shaken out of his stupor when his stomach growled, demanding more food. The scraps he was given did nothing to satiate his hunger, if anything it made it worse as it opened his appetite.
He was more miserable than before.
In particular at the harsh reality of his golden touch. He was ecstatic at first, after all the idea of infinite gold was enticing. In particular, to someone from the outskirts. Yet, in practicality, it was a nuisance.
'Maybe this is what that king the spell mentioned felt.'
Sunny shook his head. This power may have been worse than he originally thought, but he was going to make a blessing out of this curse. However, to do that he would have to figure out the extent of this power.
Unfortunately, there was not much he could test it on. His entire dungeon and chains had long since turned to gold. The work of the actual inhabitant of Sunny's current body no doubt. The only thing that had not long since turned to gold was the flimsy blindfold that was still on the floor.
Sunny extended his left foot and gripped it with his toes. Pulling it closer to him, he left it just in front of himself.
Taking a deep breath Sunny exerted himself and placed his right index finger on the blindfold. To his relief, it did not immediately turn to gold, only the area immediately around his finger. The rest of the blindfold slowly turned to gold as veins of the precious metal spread throughout the flimsy cloth like an insidious virus.
Sunny slowly added more and more fingers. It seemed that the spread of the gold got faster with each finger. By the time he placed his pinky on it the entire cloth was now just a lump of bright metal.
While short, this experiment was enough to tell Sunny three things.
One, touch is only counted with his hands as his feet didn't turn the cloth to gold.
Two, the process is not immediate anywhere else except through direct contact and a small surrounding area. However, it would continue to spread as long as there was contact.
Three, the process was made faster the more direct contact with his hands there was.
The condition of his cell told him one more thing.
The spread of gold was not just limited by the items Sunny touched but also what his gold touched. Yet, it was still unknown if it only continued as long as Sunny was 'feeding' the gold by making contact with it.
While still undesirable, this was manageable.
Now that he had a sufficient understanding of his powers, Sunny was working on his plan to kill Warden, hopefully, in a slow and painful way.
***
Sadly, his plan for the Warden was not going to be as slow as he would have liked. It didn't take much to come up with either.
In the meantime, between the next visit, Sunny thought about how he would manage his golden touch should he survive the First Nightmare. Everything would become a hassle. Bathing, eating, dressing, and a whole other myriad of things.
'Damnation. Just my luck.'
Sighing, Sunny thoughts wander to the lives of the people in the Nightmare who previously had this curse. The officer may have said that it was better to think of them as illusions, which was likely true, but the world felt too real to be fake.
As his thoughts wandered, Sunny couldn't help but think of how the boy whose life he was living died. How long did he spend in this dungeon? Years? Decades? Had he been trapped so long that his touch turned the kingdom to gold? Was that what he saw at the beginning of his nightmare?
Sighing, Sunny decided there was no point in thinking of a future that he would not see pass.
Though, unable to think about the future Sunny could only think about the past. He wondered how his sister was doing. He'd be a liar if he said he didn't miss her, but he was not quite selfish enough to ruin her life with his presence.
He still remembered the last time he saw her as if it was yesterday. It was cold. His skin was dry and brittle his stomach empty, and his body hurt. The people in the city gave him dirty looks. But none of that mattered to him. All his pain and hard-earned callouses would finally be worth it after he reunited with his sister.
He finally found her, and all he had to do was knock. Yet, when he looked inside and saw Rain with new family he couldn't bring himself to knock.
She was happy, she was fine, she had a loving family.
And he didn't.
He often asked himself why she had to have that happy ending. Why was he the one cursed to be a street rat?
Shaking his head, Sunny shoved those thoughts in the back of his mind. He couldn't think of useless thoughts right now. He needed to focus on surviving, and at the moment, his survival depended on his ability to escape this golden dungeon, which in turn relied on his understanding of his aspect.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much left to experiment with.
Sitting down, Sunny decided to meditate. He hadn't done it before, but he had nothing else to do. Coping what he'd seen in webtoons, Sunny closed his eyes and took deep breaths. He imagined the oxygen he breathed in penetrating his cells and flowing throughout his body. He cleared his mind of unnecessary thoughts and focused on the flow of his body.
He could hear his heartbeat, feel his muscles contract and spasm, and oddly enough he could feel something almost leak out of his fingertips.
It was almost unnoticeable but once Sunny focused on that feeling everything changed. That strange feeling wasn't on the edge of his fingertips, but it was scattered in insignificant fragments circulating all over his body.
It wasn't only in his body though. The more he focused on that strange feeling he could feel hints of it all over the dungeon. Even in his chains.
'Is this…essence?'
Sunny may not have known a lot of the world, but even he knew that only awakened were supposed to be able to feel and manipulate their essence. But here he was, with what he assumed to be essence, leaking out of his fingertips.
As his thoughts began to wonder the implications of this discovery Sunny heard the gates of his dungeon opening.
"Wake up brat. Time for breakfast."
Opening his eyes Sunny looked at his warden with murderous intent.
'Today you die you damned bastard.'
Chapter 3: Light of FreedomChapter Text
As Warden walked closer and closer Sunny could not help but be filled with thoughts of violence and revenge. The words, 'You're going to die', repeated over and over. Murderous intent permeated every cell of his body, filling it with otherworldly strength.
Warden placed Sunny's food on the floor and turned away spitting harsh words. However, Sunny didn't give him a response. Clouded with rage, he couldn't think of a response.
Scowling, Warden turned around and was about to begin to walk away when Sunny used the strength from his rage to lung at the large man.
He threw his arms over Warden's head, the chains wrapping around the older man's thick neck. He kept his arms at his sides and released the strength that had moved the chains in the first place.
Warden moved his arms up but was too late.
The gears behind the chains had already started turning. The man was too ill-prepared for a scenario and both he and Sunny were harshly smashed into the wall.
Sunny smiled in grim satisfaction, believing that should have been enough to kill the man. However, when the Spell didn't announce his kill his eyes slowly widened in fear.
The older man struggled a bit but he reached his arms up to the chains and started using an inhuman amount of strength to release their hold on his neck that even in this dark dungeon Sunny could tell was bruised and perhaps even broken in a few places.
"You damn curse," Warden coughed out as he removed the chains from his neck.
Blood was dripping down the man's face and onto his shirt.
'Damnation.'
Sunny was now left in pain, and he wasn't sure he'd get a second burst of strength. His only option was his aspect, but he'd have to touch the man first. And he wouldn't be able to do that with any amount of ease considering Warden was already aware of what he could do.
Sunny's mind raced as he wondered what he could do, and then he remembered what he learned from the condition of his dungeon. As long as something was in contact with his gold -as long as it was feeding on his essence- it would turn to gold as well.
He wasn't aware of how to control his essence, not yet, but that didn't matter.
He placed his hands on the floor as he prepared for what would happen next.
To his surprise the Warden -forgoing his knowledge of Sunny's abilities- grabbed him by his neck and started squeezing.
Sunny's wicked grin returned to his face. Getting choked was never pleasant, but he had survived long enough. This was nothing. Summoning the last bits of his strength he lifted his arms, placed both of them on the sides of Warden's head, and saw the man's face quickly become encased in gold.
Warden's hold on Sunny's neck softened until eventually, the Spell announced his kill.
[You have slain an awakened human, name unknown]
[You have recieved a memory…]
Sunny froze, eyes opening wide.
'Please give me something good.'
[...received a memory: Guardian's Burden]
'Yes! That sounds good!'
Sunny wasn't sure if it was the satisfaction of killing Warden or receiving a memory but he suddenly felt stronger. He wasn't sure how long this would last so he immediately grabbed the keys on the man's chest and went through each one until he managed to unlock his chains.
Grinning about being free, about killing the Warden, and getting a memory Sunny pumped his fist into the air.
'Time to look at what this thing is.'
Summoning his runes, Sunny concentrated on the words 'Guardian's Burden.' Immediately, an image of the same armor Warden was wearing appeared in front of his eyes with a few strings of text.
Memory: [Guardian's Burden]
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Tier: I
Memory Description: [The desire to protect what you love is the ultimate burden. Especially when that love is one-sided.]
Stipping off the rags he was wearing Sunny summoned his new armor set and looked over it.
He was clad in sleek, battle-worn armor made of black steel. It had broad, segmented chest and shoulder plates tailored for flexibility yet robust enough to endure relentless conflict. Luckily his arms were protected by metal bracers, and not metal gloves that would been affected by his aspect. The leather gloves of the armor were also fingerless which would make the use of his aspect easier. There was reinforced leg armor up to the knees showing grey pants.
There were pouches along a utility belt around his waist. Raising his arms he saw chain mail under the gaps of the armor and he could feel the red gambeson under the chainmail. Moving his legs a little he was glad the pants didn't restrict his movement.
"This looks much better on me," Sunny said sarcastically as he kicked Warden's body and walked out his dungeon.
As Sunny tried to find the exit for the dungeon he cursed the fact that he had no memories from the true owner of this body. Even if he was a prisoner, he was still a prince so he had to have known at least something about the composition of this dungeon.
However, here Sunny was wandering the halls looking for an exit.
The more he walked around the higher the chances of being recaptured and enchained. It didn't help he didn't know what else the spell wanted from him. He initially assumed that escaping would let him wake up, but it seemed that the Spell wasn't satisfied.
It wanted more.
'You want more? I'll give you a damn show.'
Sunny continued to wander his underground prison. To his surprise, there were no guards. In fact there wasn't anything. Only long winding tunnels resembling a labyrinth.
'They really wanted to keep me in here huh?'
He wandered for hours throughout that maze of a prison, only to find dead end after dead end. He had retraced his steps dozens of times, but so far there was no seeable exit. Yet, that wasn't possible. After all, Warden had to leave and enter.
Punching a wall Sunny yelled in frustration.
"Let me out dammit!"
As his voice echoed through the halls of the prison it fell on the ears of another prisoner.
"Chrysaor!? Is that you, brother!? You're still alive!?"
Sunny froze. He hadn't considered there were other prisoners in the labyrinth.
"Whose there," Sunny yelled.
"It's me! Your brother! Yurias!"
Out of curiosity, Sunny followed the voice. He wasn't going to respond, but he might as well check it out. If fate was on his side, this would be a good decision.
Arriving at the origin of the voice he saw a large wooden door with a lock. Clearing his throat he asked as coldly as he could, "Why should I let you out Yurias? What could you offer me?"
"... You're much meaner now Chrysaor, but that's good. You'll need that. At least this ordeal taught you something. I can get us out of this place."
Sunny didn't want to trust Yurias, but he also knew that if left to his own devices he might never find the way out on your own.
He flipped through the ring of keys Warden had. If Sunny's intuition was right one of these keys would unlock this gate and let Yurias out. After many failed attempts he finally found the correct one.
Unlocking the door he found an older man, in his mid-twenties, sitting on a bed. He had long black hair and was clothed in a fine black robe decorated with gold accents. His bed looked plush with soft bedding, and there was even books and a desk. It was even well-illuminated with a lamp that was likely fueled by soul shard.
'This is much nicer than my shitty dungeon. What the spell?'
Yurias smiled at Sunny.
"Let's get out of here shall we?"
The man exuded confidence and he walked passed Sunny, not sparing him a single glance. Following a few feet behind Sunny carefully examined the man in the low light. His face was handsome and defined. His eyes were calm despite having just escaped his prison, however his clenched fist betrayed his face.
More than that, Sunny could tell this man was much stronger than Warden, who according to the spell was an Awakened. Did that mean he was an Ascended?
'How am I going to kill you?'
Even though Yurias hadn't given Sunny a reason to distrust him, Sunny was not going to trust a random stranger.
Yurias lead Sunny to a strange hallway and rubbed his hand on the wall as if looking for something.
"There it is," he whispered.
"Keys," he requested with his hand stretched out. Sunny handed him the ring of keys. Grabbing a key Yurias stuck it into a hole in the wall. Turning, Sunny could hear gears turning once again. Suddenly, the roof opened letting in a beam of light. A stone staircase rose from the ground in front of Sunny.
"You first," the older man said.
Sunny approached the stone stairs and took his first step up. Quickly, he ran out with Yurias behind him. After the two finished climbing the steps, they found themselves in the royal garden.
As sunlight finally hit his eyes, Sunny squinted. It took a while for his eyes to adjust but once they did Sunny took in his surroundings
It was beautiful.
Had Sunny had the time, he would have loved inspecting the flowers. Such a vast and intricate garden was not a common sight in the waking world, especially in the outskirts.
At the very least he could take in the clean air.
The air in the outskirts was dirty and filled with all kinds of debris, and the air in the city was too sterile. Here in this nightmare, it was fresh and almost liberating.
'I bet even the richest people in the world don't have access to this type of air.'
"Follow me Chrysaor. I know a way out of the castle without getting caught. It's time to take Cyrus off the throne. Kin slaying and imprisoning neutral parties? Even he won't be able to avoid this with all that noble support."
Sunny fixed his gaze on Yurias and followed close behind.
Chapter 5: I AmNotes:
I edited chapter 4 in terms of memory enchantments because it was pointed out to me that Sunny could only see them because of Weaver's lineage. Sorry guys
Chapter Text
Sunny woke up in a grotto filled with bright flora and fauna from the floor to the roof. He expected to have died when the mysterious nightmare creature grabbed him. Yet, for some reason he woke up on a bed of flowers, well at least used to be.
Now it was just gold in the shape of a flower bed.
Hesitantly, he sat up and looked around.
'Where'd it go?'
Standing up he made sure he saw nothing and started walking away. Yet the moment his foot touched the plant life unaffected by his aspect it wrapped around his foot and hoisted him in the air.
Once the world stopped moving Sunny looked forward, the wooden nightmare creature sitting in front of him.
"What do you want from me," Sunny asked angrily. Being kind and a sycophant wouldn't give him a higher chance of survival than being blunt.
"You grant divinity. I want it," the nightmare creature said as it reached forward grabbing Sunny's face with its spindly fingers.
Sunny's face looked confused. Grant divinity? He never heard of that, his aspect didn't mention anything like that.
It seemed the creature noticed Sunny's confusion. It forced Sunny to look at the golden bed of flowers and pointed at it with its other hand.
"It has divinity. Give me divinity."
"Why do you want it?"
Sunny knew he wasn't in a position to negotiate, but at the very least he could extend his life considering how talkative this nightmare creature seemed.
"You humans were made by the divine. Even if the stench has disappeared you all have divinity within you. Creatures like me weren't. We're born from corruption, we have no divinity."
"Why does that matter to you?"
Growling the nightmare creature started to grip hard onto Sunny's face.
"Give me divinity," it repeated but angrier.
Sunny's face contorted in pain.
"Ok!"
Sunny was let go and dropped onto the floor. He could finally see how the nightmare creature towered over him. Granted, many things towered over Sunny due to his small stature but never to this extent. Sunny could feel his heart beating faster and faster. His hands trembled as he outstretched them toward the nightmare creature.
"I need to touch you to do it."
The creature extended its arms and for what felt like an eternity Sunny slowly closed the distance between his hand and the creature's arms.
If this went wrong, he'd be dead.
Once the gap closed, the creature's wooden arm was infected with gold. The spread was slow and insidious, and for some reason Sunny felt better than ever. He felt strong, fast, undefeatable. However, he was brought back to reality when the creature didn't seem satisfied. In fact, it seemed angry. A vine came from the floor and cut off the creature's arm, and a new one grew soon after.
The creature lashed out and started to destroy the grotto. It screamed in anguish.
Sunny crouched down and cowered in fear.
"Why does it hurt!? Why does the world reject me!? I am! I am! Why am I less than that ant!?"
Vines wrapped around Sunny's body and started to squeeze and pull. Screaming out in pain Sunny begged it to stop. He begged to wake up from this nightmare, but nothing.
The creature stood in front of him its face contorted in an inhuman display of anger.
It swiped its hand over Sunny's chest, breaking his armor set like it was nothing. Scarlet blood flowed from Sunny's chest and dripped onto the floor. The creature continued attacking Sunny, careful not to kill him.
"Why am I rejected!? I am a product of their creation! Accept me, gods!"
Tears flowed down Sunny's face as the beast was merciless in its assault. In another act of anger, Sunny was thrown into a wall of the grotto. The creature didn't move forward, preferring to watch Sunny squirm in a pool of his own blood and misery.
And that's what Sunny did. He cursed the world. He cursed the Nightmare spell. He cursed his parents for even giving him life, for giving him a life of nothing but pain. He was damned from the moment he was born in the outskirts.
Fueled by anger Sunny spoke up. If this monster was going to kill him, he may get the last word in.
"Because you're a monster! A monster made for people like me to kill! The gods reject you because they made you to entertain us! Do you want divinity?! Then kill yourself! You hate yourself!? Then go to hell!"
Silence. Silence filled the air, but Sunny's mind was anything but silent.
He just provoked a creature no less than the corrupted rank. However, at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care. He was too angry at the Nightmare spell to be rational. His mind was overloaded with thoughts damning the nightmare spell and damning this wooden monster.
"...You're right! You're so right! It's not my fault! It's the gods! It's their fault for making you to begin with!"
That's when it started.
Sunny would later recall it as an eternity of pain, despite the fact it was a very finite amount of time. The vines pierced his skin and started squirming just under his skin.
Thorns grew as the vines continued to invade his body, tearing him open from the inside.
The grotto was filled with unholy screams. Sunny wasn't even aware he could scream this loud, but the pain was unlike anything he ever felt.
He couldn't even die.
That damned creature was healing him as it was torturing him. And worst of all it wouldn't stop talking.
"If I was made to die, to be killed by the hands of the like of you then kill me! Kill me with those divine hands of yours! Pray to the gods that accept you to save you!"
It laughed maniacally as it continued to torture Sunny, reveling in his pain. For the first time since Sunny met it, he could say without a doubt it was a nightmare creature. Its ability to speak was a trick, probably something it gained from slaughtering thousands of people.
'You sadistic bastard.'
Eventually, the pain started to melt together, and it was Sunny's turn to laugh. He couldn't believe his fate, his absolute and utter disgrace of a life.
A tiny and almost condescending voice whispered into Sunny's mind. 'What are you going to do? Die here? Get up! You're going to survive! So do something!'
Through his insane laughter and wines of pain Sunny said maniacally, "You know... when I just came here, l was ready to die! After all, in this whole world- two worlds, actually - there's not a single soul who cares whether I live or die! When I'm gone, no one will be sad! No one will even remember that I existed! But I've changed my mind! I'm going to survive! I must survive, no matter what...To spite you all, even those gods you're so desperate to be loved by! So let's see what lasts longer! My will or yours!"
Sunny knew it was pointless but desperately tried to fight against the vines.
If he couldn't tear them off of him, he'd tear himself away from them. Sunny summoned all the power in his body and tore his own body open, escaping from the prison of thorns.
If he could see himself, he'd be horrified. At the moment he had more blood and open muscles than he did skin. Luckily, it seemed that whatever the nightmare creature used to heal him left traces, closing the worst of his wounds.
Collapsing on the floor, Sunny dug his fingers into the dirt. Even as he turned it into gold, his fingers still left a mark, proof of his anger.
Suddenly, he was stabbed in the chest.
"You're perfect. You're just like me. You're going to be one to kill me."
Sunny screamed in pain and anguish, not from the stab wound but something deeper, more profound. Whatever this creature was doing it was attacking whatever version of a soul Sunny currently had. Then it stopped, everything stopped.
Whatever stabbed Sunny was gone. His soul still ached, but the pain lessened, and it was quiet—for the first time in a long time. Sunny looked up and saw nothing. The accursed nightmare creature had left.
Sunny couldn't bring his body to get up, and he couldn't even crawl. He was left in a pool of his own blood and misery.
"You're right. I'm going to be the one to kill you, so don't let anyone else get to you first. You're going to be a gold statue decorating my house."
Chapter 6: Safe and SoundChapter Text
Finally able to rest all the exhaustion that accumulated in Sunny's body washed over him. In that pitiful puddle, he fell asleep.
Unsure for how long, Sunny was jostled awake by Yurias who was covered head to toe in armor.
"Chrysaor you're alive! Thank the gods! Don't worry I'll get you out of here!"
The older man picked the still-exhausted Sunless up.
The boy himself was unsure what was going on, and the blurry image of an older man with long black hair holding him in his arms was strangely familiar.
"Dad," Sunny whispered confused. This was the last thing Sunny said and felt before unconsciousness washed over him again.
The next time Sunny woke up he was in a plush bed. His hands were restrained but not to keep him in place. They were hanging just over the bed frame so nothing would turn to gold. The sun softly hit his face, filling him with an alien sense of warmth and comfort.
It was welcome considering the amount of pain he was in now that the adrenaline and rage that previously coursed through his veins now subsided.
Shifting his head around Sunny couldn't help but notice that he was covered head to toe in bandages, that were now soaked in his blood and desperately needed a change.
'How am I alive?'
All logic would dictate that he should be dead, his nightmare over, and his body rampaging in the waking world. However, he supposed logic no longer mattered since the birth of the Nightmare Spell.
Groaning Sunny couldn't even bring himself to summon his runes.
Although he was in too much pain to notice, Sunny's armor -his first memory- was destroyed horribly. It would be a miracle if it was still around, but Sunny knew it wasn't.
Looking up at the roof Sunny couldn't help but groan.
"I can't wait 'till this is over," he whispered.
He didn't know how many days had passed since he entered. His best estimates put him at about 5 or 6 days, just under a week regardless.
Taking a moment to revel in this period of relaxation Sunny decided to meditate.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, once again reaching a state of hyper-awareness. He could hear the faint chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, the whispers outside the room he was in, the beating of his heart, the almost imperceptible twitches of his muscles, but most importantly the feeling of leaking essence from his hands.
He couldn't move it, and couldn't even begin to imagine how but he could feel it.
He was aware of its existence, and now all he had to do was will it to move. Yet, when he tried he felt a sharp pain in his head. Yelling in pain, Sunny felt something burst from his temple. He tried to grab at his head for nothing, desperate to grab whatever was spawning on his head and rip it off.
Yurias and a horde of servants rushed into the room, made aware of Sunny's pain by his loud cries.
"Chrysaor what happened!"
"My head! Make it stop!"
Yurias only stood in shock as he noticed what was sprouting from Sunny's head. A crown of thorns soaked in the boy's blood adorned his head.
Once it was fully formed the sharp pain subsided, replaced by a constant dull ache.
As blood dripped down onto the bed Yurias approached Sunny.
"Chrysaor?"
Sunny looked at where the voice came from, his vision clouded by blood flowing into his eyes.
"What happened to me?"
Yurias motioned for one of the servants to hand him a mirror. A young girl, around Sunny's age, promptly handed him one. Holding it in front of Sunny Yurias said, "You grew a crown made of thorns."
Even with his blood-stained view of the world Sunny could make out the shape of the ground and he grit his teeth.
"That damned monster. It did this to me. I know it did."
"The beast that took you? What exactly did it do to you Chrysaor?"
As the servants tended to Sunny, cleaning his face of blood and replacing his bandages Sunny told Yurias of what happened. How the monster demanded divinity and then tortured him for an unknown amount of time -3 days according to Yurias- when Sunny didn't achieve the desired result, only for the creature to let him go but not before stabbing him in the chest and doing something to his soul.
Throughout the interaction, Yurias couldn't help but look on in fear, not that Sunny noticed.
"But what I don't get is why he thought I could give him divinity. What did he mean by my gold being divine?"
"Because it is. Gold is divine by nature."
Sunny turned his head to Yurias. His face of confusion prompted the awakened to continue.
"Gold is rare and durable. It does not corrode or degrade over time, just like the timeless and unchanging gods. Some worshippers of the Sun God even believe that gold is the sweat of the sun. But more than that Chrysaor, the gods have gold in their blood. Even before us, gold has always been divine. Even more so with that power of yours. When Shadow god gave our great-grandfather the ability to turn anything into gold, he essentially gave our great-grandfather a blessing. Now the gold was not just simple radiant gold. It was infused with the divinity from the blessing. We may call it a curse now, but Shadow God gave that power to our family as a blessing and a blessing from a god is a powerful thing."
Sunny stayed silent. He wasn't sure of the implications of his gold being infused with a subtle hint of divinity, but at least his question was somewhat answered.
"It feels like a curse all things considered. It's caused me nothing but trouble."
Yurias sighed.
"I understand why you must feel like that, but you just need to endure a bit longer. Soon enough we'll go to a temple, and hopefully, it will make your life a bit easier."
Sunny nodded. His head hadn't stopped aching but that didn't stop him from processing everything. If he remembered and guessed correctly, Sunny was likely in a room belonging to the friendly lord Yurias was speaking of before he was taken.
"And the plan to take out Cyrus?"
With a smile, Yurias stood up, "It's good to see you're still focused despite everything. Once the servants finish replacing your bandages have them lead you to their lord's study. There we will discuss the plan."
With that Yurias stood up and left, leaving Sunny alone with a room full of servants that were currently undressing him and replacing his bloody bandages. Inappropriate and embarrassing thoughts flooded Sunny's mind as many of the servants were attractive young women.
It was only balanced out by the constant ache.
Once the servants were done, the one that handed Yurias the mirror escorted Sunny to her lord's study. Despite not being one for small talk, Sunny couldn't help but try to ease the tension.
"What is your name?"
"Crocel your highness."
An awkward silence filled the air.
"Thank you for replacing my bandages."
"I was simply doing my duty, your highness. Think nothing of it."
Sunny sighed and stopped his awful attempt at small talk. When they arrived, Crocel knocked and only opened the door when she heard her lord say she could enter.
"I present to you all the 13th prince of Loro, his Highness Prince Chrysaor."
Sunny only recognized Yurias in the group of 6 men and women.
Unsure of what to do Sunny gave a slight bow.
"I like this one much better than Cyrus and Yurias," a red-haired woman clothed in an intricate blue dress said.
"Of course you would Xeera." a chubby old man with thinning light brown hair said. Sunny couldn't help but notice that he had much more jewelry than Xeera, the woman who spoke up first.
Xeera laughed, "What is that supposed to mean Mikel? Are you insinuating I feel inappropriate thoughts for his highness?"
Mikel didn't respond, but the silence was enough of a reply.
"What about Ameri? We know she likes younger men."
The attention turned to a tall older woman with long ginger hair and bright green eyes. Her dress was plain black, but even Sunny could tell the simplicity was on purpose considering the high quality the fabric looked to be.
"It's inappropriate to talk about my preferences in men in front of his highness and in front of this land's lord," Ameri replied.
"I'm sure Airen wouldn't mind. He's a closet pervert you see," an older fellow with grey hair and just as much jewelry as Mikel said in a playful tone.
A man not much older than Yurias sighed. He seemed to be used to the antics of the others in the room.
"Need I remind you all, we are discussing a coup? Should it fail it is execution for us all. Is it the time for jokes?"
Finally, it was Yurias's turn to speak.
"It won't help if we're too morbid Airen."
Yurias faced Sunny.
"Sit down Chrysaor. Now that you're here we can finish discussing the plans for the coup."
Sunny took the empty seat next to Yurias.
"Finish? Can you fill me in on the rest of the plan before I say anything?"
"The plan is simple. Two days from now every lord in the kingdom, including the five in this room, will be in the presence of his majesty under the guise of reports about our lands. We will hide you two in our carts, and whilst you roam the halls Yurias will start fighting the guards. Amidst the chaos, one of my servants will open the castle gates which will let the majority of our forces within. As our forces and the castle guards fight it will be up to you two to fight Cyrus and dethrone him," Airen said evenly.
The plan sounded simple, but Sunny doubted Airen shared the full complexity of the plan in the short summary
However, Sunny had one major question.
"Fight Cyrus? I thought his kin slaying was the reason for this coup. Now you want us to do the same?"
Airen shook his head, "If you kill Cyrus the other nobles won't be able to trust you. You must defeat him without taking his life. You can do that, can't you?"
With a grin, Yurias placed his hand on Sunny's shoulder.
"No matter how much stronger Cyrus has gotten he's never been a proper combatant. Even if he has awakened or even ascended, he'll never be able to beat me."
Airen and the other lords looked grim.
Mikel spoke up.
"Yurias, you were a talented combatant. We all know this, however, you did not witness what your brother did to get the throne. He was brutal, merciless, and most importantly skilled. Since then the kingdom has called him, the prince of war. Even the royal garbs are stained in the blood of your siblings to this day."
The room was filled with a dreadful silence. Not even Yurias could find something to say.
This silence prompted Sunny to speak.
"It sounds like the plan is already made. Why do I need to be included in it?"
"You're going to be the next king Chrysaor, if we are going to stage a coup you're going to have to be a major piece. So what do you want it to be?"
Sunny thought back to the plan. It didn't seem there was much space for someone with no combat experience like him, but it seemed the events demanded he be involved.
"I'll open the gates and fight my way into the throne room. Is that enough?"
Ameri looked at Sunny dumbfounded.
"It should be enough but pardon me for my rudeness Your Highness. I was told you had no combat experience. How do you expect yourself to get through all the guards?"
"He won't be alone Ameri. I'll be by his side. He can land the finishing blow on our aggressors. All he needs to do is touch them after all," Yurias said.
Airen rubbed his chin contemplating for a moment.
"That can work I suppose. Is that it? Am I forgetting something?"
"Cyrus's punishment," Sunny asked.
Dante replied, "That is up to you. What you come up with will be how we judge what type of king you will be."
Internally, Sunny groaned. Now he had to come up with a proper punishment for this headache? How great.
Yurias had a moment of realization and said towards Airen, "Oh, the access to the temple in the town over. You said Chrysaor could use it to make a sacrifice to Shadow God since it was dedicated to all the gods."
Airen looked at Yurias shocked, "You want to do it now? It's half a day away, and then from there a day trip at the fastest to get to the capital. You'll be cutting it close."
Yurias nodded.
"Chrysaor needs it. If he's to be king he has to have a way to control his power, if not people will question his ability. This sacrifice may be the only way to do so."
Sighing Airen nodded. Yurias had a point. What good was a king who couldn't even achieve the most basic of things by himself?
"I'll lend you a carriage, but make the journey as quick as possible. If you must leave now."
Standing up Yurias grabbed Sunny by the collar.
"Time to prepare for departure Chrysaor. I wish you had time to rest, but the world doesn't stop for no one."
"I haven't even eaten. Can I have food first?"
Sunny's pleas fell on dead ears as he found himself dressed in a noble suit covered by a black cloak on his way to a nearby town.
Chapter 7: For Shadow GodChapter Text
Sunny stared at his runes in utter despair.
'That damn tree.'
With nothing to do on the ride to town, Sunny decided to reread his runes. Yet, to his surprise, there was something new. It wasn't a memory, it was an attribute.
Instead of the three he had at the beginning of the nightmare, he had four.
Attributes: [Fated], [Mark of Divinity], [Offspring of Avarice], [Crown of Thorns]
'So that's why I have this.'
Sunny tentatively reached up and grazed his fingers against the thorns.
Attribute Description: [Crown of Thorns - A curse from the Mad Dryad. A crown of thorns born from the desire to survive, burdening you with a constant, dull pain A your head, making it hard to focus or concentrate. The more you want to live the worse the pain gets.]
Sunny's hand formed a fist. Sunny was well aware that his desire to survive was one of his defining qualities. This attribute was cursing him to a life of eternal pain. That accursed tree.
"How much longer until we arrive," Sunny asked Yurias.
"About 3 hours. I suggest taking the moment to sleep. You need as much rest as possible for the coup."
Sunny sighed and placed his head against the carriage window. The dull pain of his new crown made it difficult to sleep, and even drew blood on occasion but eventually Sunny was lulled further into the land of dreams, until he finally fell asleep.
Once the carriage came to a stop, Yurias looked at the sleeping boy and with an empathetic looked gently picked him up.
The carriage door opened.
"We've arrived Your Highness," Crocel said with a bow.
Yurias walked out the carriage carrying the still sleeping Sunny.
"Take me to the temple. We must get this done as soon as possible."
Nodding Crocel walked forward, leading the princes to the temple.
"The temple doesn't get much use in this small town, and there is no particular priest because of its role to be a general place of worship. Do you require anything, Your Highness?"
Yurias shook his head.
"Only for the temple to be empty."
***
Sunny woke up sitting on a cold stone floor. His hands reached for his face in an attempt to wake him up.
"Where am I?"
"Where? In the temple, I decided to let you rest as long as possible. If you hadn't woken up now, I would have woken you up soon," Yurias who was standing at an altar at the front of the temple said.
Standing up Sunny walked towards Yurias.
"So what do we do? You said we need a sacrifice, but I don't see an animal."
"You're the sacrifice."
Sunny froze in his tracks. Was Yurias betraying him? Was he going to have to defeat an Ascended? That was impossible. He wasn't even a sleeper. He only managed to defeat an Awakened because he caught him off guard, and even then Sunny almost died.
Laughter filled the air.
"You should have seen your face. The sacrifice doesn't demand your life, just your blood. Or as much of your body as you're willing to give up."
Sunny glared at Yurias and continued to walk forward.
"You aren't funny," Sunny said as he arrived at the altar.
Turning to his 'brother' Yurias smiled.
"I'm hilarious. Now take this, Airen gave it to us to use."
Yurias reached into his coat and handed Sunny a plain dagger. It's handle was an undecorated black wood with a simple steel pomel and a a steel blade. The moment Sunny grabbed it, the knife was encased in gold.
Its edge wasn't lost, but the weight changed. It was much heavier now.
"Is it still enough," Sunny asked.
"If anything it's even better. A dagger imbued with your gold's divinity will surely catch the attention of Shadow God. Remember, be earnest in what you want."
Sunny sighed and held out his hand on top of the altar. Both his hands were shaking. He had already experienced great pain but he was weary to experience any more. Especially self-inflicted pain.
'I want to control this power. I want to live a life where I can live without being shackled by it.'
Hesitantly, Sunny pressed the dagger's edge to his palm and pressed hard. The first drop of blood surfaced and from there, Sunny sliced his palm open as much as he could. Once he was done Sunny dropped the knife onto the altar, the golden blade touching the marble at the same time as Sunny's blood.
Absorbing the golden blade and his blood the marble looked like it had never been touched. A moment of silence resounded until it was replaced by the Spell's voice.
[You have offered yourself as a sacrifice to the gods.]
[The gods are dead, and can not hear you.]
[Your soul bears the mark of divinity.]
[You are favored by Shadow God.]
[Shadow God stirs in his eternal slumber.]
[He sends a blessing from beyond the grave.]
[Offspring of Avarice, receive your blessing!]
Suddenly, the shadows within the temple exploded. They encased the temple, shrouding the world in darkness. Sunny could feel the shadows crawling up his leg. He tried to resist, but he couldn't move. The shadows that were crawling up his body completely covered him.
Once fear penetrated Sunny's being he attempted to scream, but nothing came out.
And then it ended. Just as quickly as it started, it was over. Light returned and the shadows returned to their proper places, quiet and unmoving.
Sunny collapsed, finally gaining control of his body again, and started hyper-ventilating. Something felt different, and he knew exactly what it was. Looking at his hands Sunny saw them encased in shadows, resembling a black glove.
It was a weird sensation, being covered in tangible shadows like they were a second skin. It was cold and unnerving. Sunny couldn't feel anything, not even the leaking essence. Unsure of what would happen Sunny placed his hands on his cloak. To his amazement and relief, it didn't turn into a sheet of gold, not even a speck.
'Wait how am I going to use my aspect now?'
As if the shadows around his hand could read his mind, they retreated from his hands and turned into black bands around his wrist.
'Cover?'
They returned to gloves.
Sunny tried a list of mental commands, but it seemed that they wouldn't listen to anything aside from forming a second skin around his hands and retreating. The cut on his left hand was no longer present, only a faint scar.
"Yurias it worked."
Looking around Sunny saw Yurias on the floor unconscious. It seemed the shadows were not as kind to him as they were to Sunny.
Grabbing him by his collar, Sunny proceeded to drag Yurias out of the temple.
"You heavy bastard wake up," Sunny groaned out.
Sunny let go and crouched down.
He proceeded to slap Yurias and scream, "Wake up!"
Yurias shot up and unsure of what was going on asked, "What happened?!"
"What happened was that your theory worked. Shadow God had some shadows wrapped around my hands. I can't do much aside from telling them to cover my hands or retreat, but now I can touch things without turning them to gold."
Yurias rubbed his face, not that it actually hurt.
"Did you have to slap me?"
"Stop whining. We have to go claim my throne."
Standing up Yurias stretched.
"We'll grab something to eat at an inn in town and then leave. I may joke, but we have to be on time or else everything falls apart."
Sunny nodded and walked next to Yurias. Feeling the need to say something Sunny begrudgingly said, "Thank you…for everything I guess."
Yurias had gotten him out the dungeon, outside the castle, rescued him from the grotto, and now even found a way for Sunny to not be shackled by his aspect. Sunny may not have particularly cared for his personality or trusted him much, but he was not ungrateful.
"Don't mention it. What type of brother would I be if I wasn't there for you?"
Suny remained quiet. Yurias was long dead, this was an illusion cast by the spell. He wasn't even aware Sunny stole the body of his real brother. Everything was fake. So why couldn't Sunny fight back the urge to smile? It felt nice to be cared for, even if it was an illusion.
Chapter 8: Usurping the King (1)Chapter Text
Sunny and Yurias sat at the inn, and Sunny was devouring the food. For the first time since he had woken up in this nightmare, he had a proper meal, one that he could eat with his own hands.
"Not very prince-like of you Chrysaor. Where are all your manners now that you can feed yourself?"
Sunny didn't respond and only motioned for more food. He was so hungry and no matter how bland this food was it was better than the synthetic paste from the outskirts. The meat was tough and tasteless, but it was still meat. The bread was tough and dry, but it was bread nonetheless.
It was real food, not that crappy synth paste.
When he finally finished eating, Sunny sighed in relief. Not once in his life had his belly ever been this full.
'I don't think I can ever go back to being hungry.'
"You were hungry huh," Yurias asked with a smile.
Sunny only nodded.
"Well go on outside. I'll pay for this."
Standing up Sunny walked outside, met with an attentive Crocel.
"Your Highness," she said as she bowed.
"Hello…Crocel was it?"
Nodding Crocel continued, "To the carriage or do you simply want to walk around Your Highness?"
Thinking for a moment, Sunny considered the options. The carriage was the logical choice, but for once in his life Sunny felt alive. Not just surviving, but alive. His belly was full, the world was beautiful, he had powers most would be jealous of, and not even his crown of thorns could ruin this.
"Take me on a long way. I want to take in the sights and the air."
"Yes, Your Highness."
As Crocel led the way to the carriage Sunny smiled.
His nightmare might be morbid, and his survival wasn't guaranteed but this moment…this moment was so close to perfect. He shouldn't have any complaints, but Sunny could only think of what was missing. He was unable to truly appreciate what was.
When he saw families walk the streets, or a couple, or even a group of friends he couldn't help but be a little envious.
He wished his sister and parents were here with him. He wished he was with a lover, with friends. All the things denied to him he wished he had it all.
"Crocel…The world is cruel isn't it," Sunny said with his smile not fading.
"Yes, Your Highness. Horribly so. What makes you say that?"
"You could have everything, and you could have nothing and still want more. It's never enough, even when it's perfect."
Crocel hummed in agreement.
"Yes human greed knows no bounds, but there's beauty in our failings isn't there? Greed makes us strive to be better, to be more than what we are. For some people, all we have is our greed."
"Are you one of those people?"
Crocel turned to Sunny.
"Of course. What peasant doesn't want to sit on the throne at least once, and see the world through the eyes of a king?"
"Who knows? If this all works out maybe I'll let you sit on the throne."
"You're too kind Your Highness."
Sunny held back a laugh. He'd been called lots of things but never kind. It was strange, that feeling lit a warm comforting fire in him.
"...It's not kindness."
"Then perhaps you're greedier than the peasants."
The rest of the walk was filled with a comfortable silence. Gone was the awkward tension Sunny felt. Instead, there was a strange sense of peace. If Sunny was any less greedy he would have thought to himself that this wasn't such a bad moment to die. However, now that he had a taste of what could be Sunny wasn't going to let it go. He wanted more.
"I see you took the scenic route," Yurias said as Crocel and Sunny approached the carriage.
"I apologize, Your Highness, but Prince Chrysaor wanted to see the town. I thought it would be a nice moment of freedom before he becomes king."
Yurias sighed and said nothing as he entered the carriage.
***
It indeed took just over a day for them to arrive outside the capital and meet with Airen's envoy. After explaining what happened at the temple and reviewing the plan, Sunny found himself cramped inside an empty wooden barrel within one of the various wagons the lords of the kingdom brought.
'How humiliating.'
He barely managed to avoid being caught by the sentries during their inspection of Airen's wagons and carriages.
However, after that, it was smooth sailing to the castle.
When the wagon finally stopped and Sunny heard a door close he popped the top of the barrel open to be disappointed by pure darkness.
Yurias popped out of his hiding place as well and whispered, "They should have taken us to a storage house within the inner courtyard. Are you ready?"
Nodding Sunny commanded the shadows on his hands to retract.
Yurias kicked the door of the storehouse down and rushed at one of the guards, crushing the man's face with his bare hands. Sunny on the meanwhile slid under a sword slash and his hands grazed the man's leg.
To Sunny's…relief he supposed, it seemed the process of being turned to gold was painful.
The guard lost his balance and once he fell on the ground Sunny grabbed his face, killing the man.
[You have slain a dormant human, name unknown.]
To Sunny's disappointment, there was no memory.
"Alright let's go before other guards arrive. We have to open the gates to the castle before anything," Yurias said as he picked up one of the guards' swords and swung it around to get a feel for the weight of the blade.
Nodding Sunny walked forward with Yurias close behind. They may not have wanted to get rushed by guards, but they weren't going to be stealthy either. They were going to make it a point to be known.
Their brother was going to feel the fear of death he had so carelessly waved around when he stained the throne with his kin's blood.
"No sword," Yurias asked.
Sunny shrugged.
"Don't know how to use one. More of a hindrance right now. As long as you can immobilize them I can finish them off by just grabbing their face."
"I'll teach you how to use a sword soon. Once all this is over you will be overwhelmed with combat and political lessons."
Sunny held back the urge to frown. There would be no after. Once he finished this nightmare, this world as it exists would disappear.
"...Sounds great."
Suddenly Sunny was a bit more eager to let his anger out on the guards and soldiers of this castle.
Chapter 9: Usurping the King (2)Chapter Text
Panting heavily Sunny hid behind a wall as Yurias fended off a few guards. In a few moments, he had to join the fray again but his body wasn't used to being exerted this much.
He had killed dozens of dormant guards and even finished off 3 awakened ones that Yurias had left for him. His aspect may not have been draining him, but the physical strain certainly was. He couldn't wait till he was a sleeper and magically more fit.
"I hate my life," Sunny whispered as he ran back into the fray.
Many of the soldiers and guards were normal humans so their speed was something Sunny could deal with. He dealt with violence a lot in the outskirts, thus he knew how to at least move well enough to avoid getting hurt.
Ducking under a sword slash Sunny grazed the soldier's knee with his hands. The soft fabric of the man's pants turned into rigid gold that cause him to lose his balance. Once he fell to the ground Sunny grabbed his face before rolling away from the attack of another soldier.
The spell announced yet another one of his kills. At this point Sunny had grown numb to its announcement of his kills of unnamed dormant humans.
"Chrysaor catch!"
Sunny turned and saw Yurias throwing a man at him. Clicking his tongue Sunny dodged the flying man and turned him to gold once he landed.
[You have slain an awakened human, name unknown.]
'I'm so tired,' Sunny thought.
His only solace was that they were already approaching the gates. Once there the majority of the soldiers and guards would be dealt with by others.
***
A young man in his early twenties, tall and imposing, stabbed his sword into the chest of Dante.
"You all believe you can truly stop me? The Prince of War? I am more than you can possibly handle."
Airen coughed out, clutching his chest. "Perhaps, but humans have made a habit of killing monsters much stronger than ourselves. This is no different Cyrus."
Cyrus stared at the young lord indifferently.
"I am no monster. I'm a king. Your king. And you shall address me as such. After I kill you, I'll kill those wretched brothers of mine and burn away everything that opposes me so completely no one will remember your existence."
***
The onslaught of soldiers and guards seemed to be never ending as Sunny and Yurias got closer to the gates. Sunny himself was drenched in sweat, breathing heavily, surrounded by a myriad of men and women half turned to gold.
Yurias in contrast seemed to be perfectly fine. The horde of dormant humans was no match for his ascended strenght. If it was simply him perhaps the gates would have been open already.
Unfortunately, the plan needed Sunny to be at the center. Yurias was holding back, giving the younger man the opportunity to shine.
And shine he did.
Everywhere the youth went golden statues followed. Despite his meager appearance nothing survived him. The moment he so much as grazed you, you were dead. Archers and canons aimed their arrows and canonballs at him, but Yurias cut them down before they could touch him.
So Sunny was allowed to shine liked the gold he made.
His fighting was deceitful, barbaric, and almost animalistic. Nothing like the graceful moves Yurias employed. Nevertheless, it was just as captivating.
Sunny was a beast of death and brightness. One that immortalized you in your last painful moments of life.
Yurias shuddered at the thought of how dangerous he'd be once he awakened and more so when he ascended.
Sunny's thoughts on the other hand weren't so put together. He was driven by a single objective, survive. At this moment, he was truly no better than a beast. Fragmented thoughts, killing barbarically, and being driven by the base instinct to survive.
Despite his almost animalistic and crude fighting, he found a comfortable rhythm. Almost like it was a dance. Dodge, grab, and repeat. The actions he did may have been different, from ducking, sliding between legs, and jumping but the concept was the same. Avoid getting hurt then kill.
However, the more he fought the more pain he felt. The crown of thorns tightened around his head, bathing itself in Sunny's scarlet blood.
The pain blurred the thoughts of Sunny further.
It wasn't just physical pain, it was as if his very soul hurt. The cuts and gashes he suffered from the soldiers and guards were nothing compared to the pain of the crown which seemed to be attacking his very being.
As Sunny continued to fight on pure instinct a loud crash was heard. Everyone stopped and Sunny looked over to see Yurias fighting a man and a woman. For once, he seemed to be struggling.
It seemed they were Ascended too.
Finally, Sunny saw Yurias's abilities.
Scarlet tendrils burst out of the man's back and covered him like living armor. Suddenly, Yurias seemed faster, stronger, and not as overwhelmed as before.
Sunny could not afford to be captivated any longer as the other soldiers started moving once again.
Soon enough Sunny found himself getting into that steady rhythm of mindless fighting and killing. He almost forgot his goal was to open the gates and let everyone else handle these men and women while Yurias and him fought Cyrus.
***
Yurias groaned as he fought. He rarely used his awakened ability to this degree because it was just too painful. However, he knew exactly how powerful his opponents were.
They were his former teachers after all.
Kera, an Ascended who commanded the air at her will.
Pilor, an Ascended who shaped the earth like clay.
However, air and earth were nothing to Yurias. He controlled blood, the very essence of every creatures being.
As the ground under him collapsed and turned into mud Yurias levitated himself by controlling his own blood. He hadn't quite mastered this yet, but it was a death sentence to lose his footing and sink into Pilor's sea of earth.
However, this had its own risks as Kera controlled the skies in this fight. Neither land or sky was safe for Yurias and he was quickly being overwhelmed.
His ascended ability was slow working too. The poisonous and parasitic nature he could instill upon his blood was slow working. His blood had already found its way in the cuts and scrapes of his opponents, but it would take more seconds than he had to take full effect.
Despite the fact that his old masters were currently being limited he was still losing.
Suddenly, without warning Sunny was thrown into the area his battle was. Right into Kera.
Almost miraculously Sunny's hands grazed her face, immediately turning her head to gold and ending her life.
[You have slain an ascended human, Kera.]
As his body rolled on the floor, Yurias caught Sunny.
"Chrysaor are you ok?!"
Sunny groaned in pain and just pointed in the direction of where he was thrown.
Yurias eyes widened as his saw the head knight, another ascended human. Tora, a man who could quite literally turned everything he touched into a weapon.
"This is going to take a while isn't it," Sunny groaned out.
"Unfortunately," Yurias said as his bloody armor shifted into something more sleek.
Yurias flashed forward , faster than Sunny could see. His sword clashed with Tora's. The knight was ever silent, and his eyes didn't give a hint of recognition towards the previous heir of the throne.
As for Sunny, he was currently running for his life. He was fortunate that the deadly nature of Yurias's blood was finally taking effect on Pilor.
The poison was killing him, and the more he exerted himself the faster it spread. It would continue to spread through his body and prevent him from moving the parts of his body it encroached on.
However, an Ascended was still an Ascended and Sunny was only dormant. Thus Yurias's attention was currently split between two. Keeping pace with Tora and sending gallons of his blood to destroy spikes of earth that were being sent to Sunny.
The consequences of his split attention were clear when Tora stabbed him in the gut. Yurias was barely able to hold on by preventing his blood from flowing out.
"I taught you better than this Yurias."
Gritting his teeth Yurias said, "Why are you supporting Cyrus! After everything he's done! Imprisoning me and Chrysaor! Killing our siblings! I thought you told us we were like the children you never had!"
"…I know, but let this greedy old man die by your hands to repent."
"Screw your repentance!"
Yurias continued to split his focus between Tora and saving Sunny.
He only needed to last a few moments longer. Then the poison would end Pilor, and he could focus completely on Tora and hopefully win.
***
Sunny's heart ached. His lungs felt as if they were going to explode. His leg muscles were shaking. Sweat rolled down his face by the gallons.
Yet, nothing compared to the aching pain around his head that was ever growing. He wanted to collapse, but he knew when he did he would die.
He would not die like this, he refused. However, this will to survive only made the pain worse and created a never ending cycle for Sunny.
Finally, when the pain seared too much Sunny tripped. Just like that, he was going to die. After fighting and killing so much, he would die from a fall.
He would have laughed at the anti-climatic nature of such a fate if he wasn't in so much searing pain.
Pilor couldn't even cough out so much as a word as he approached Sunny.
To Pilor, Sunny was Prince Chrysaor, the son of a man who he had sworn his life to. Consequently, he deserved a much more honorable death than to die by Pilor's spikes of earth.
As he approached the young boy he shakily rose his sword, and as soon as he was about to stab it into Sunny Pilor's body finally gave out.
Yurias's blood finally proved to be too much and the older man fell face first next to the groveling prince.
Sunny was moving on the ground erratically as he tried any way to deal with the pain. From trying to rip the crown off to screaming his heart out.
Nothing seemed to work.
The last thing Pilor ever heard were the tortured screams of Sunny. And the last thing he ever felt was Sunny's hands smack him straight in the face before the poison completely won.
[You have slain an ascended human, Pilor.]