As Nephis's mind came to, she wondered where she was. The first thing she saw, was three doctors standing over her trying to assess her current state.
Her mind was muddled, and her vision refused to focus.
No, it was not that her vision would not focus, it was that she had to many tears in her eyes to see clearly.
With an almost physical weight pressing down on her heart, she sat up.
With resolve burning in her eyes, she turned to the nearby doctor.
"Take me to Sunny."
The doctor looked puzzled.
"Lady Changing Star, who is... Sunny?"
Nephis, realizing her mistake clarified.
"Sleeper Sunless, take me to his room."
The doctor immediately started to tell her about the procedures and tests they needed to run, but under her unblinking gaze. The doctor caved.
In just a few minutes, she walked into a room very similar to her own.
It had no special defenses, no special life preserving machines, and was quite a bit smaller.
And at the center sat a metal coffin, still, silent, entirely unperturbed by the chaos unfolding outside.
On one side of the Sleeping Pod, a delicate blind girl sat. Her pale gold hair shimmered in the misty light from the coffin, and her blue eyes matched the hue of the stark lighting.
Hearing the new arrivals Cassie's face visibly brightened.
"Neph, did it work like my vision showed?"
Her voice sounded hopeful, almost glad that she had condemned Sunny to solitude.
For the first time in a long time, Nephis felt like she wanted to scream.
"Yes Cassie, it worked. I... left him there... alone."
As she gritted her teeth, Cassie forced out a smile.
"...That's... that's good."
Nephis's heart felt like it was being twisted in her chest.
She stayed quiet as she approached the slumbering boy.
Once Nephis was within arm's reach, she felt something tug on the deepest part of her soul.
It was similar to how she had felt the moment she spoke his true name, but much more powerful.
Feeling an instinctual urge, she called upon her runes. They looked almost the exact same, only now near the bottom there was a single rune.
[Slave]
Nephis's heart became even heavier as she realized what Sunny's weakness was.
It was not some kind of bane to use against him, it was not even a weapon.
It was a chain, a shackle.
As she focused on the rune, her vision lit up with dozens more.
They were... Sunny's runes. Right in front of her she was looking at Sunny's most guarded secrets.
She had enslaved him, stripped him of his freewill, and now she was stripping him of his secrets.
At that moment, Cassie's face became confused as she glanced at Sunny's sleeping body.
Her eyes widened as she watched his attributes change, right in front of her his Attributes changed as he gained new ones.
In a very similar way, Nephis's eyes became wider and wider as she watched not only his Attributes, but his Aspect and its innate ability change.
But a particular rune began to form that drew her attention, it read [Unchained].
Before it fully formed, Nephis managed to see its description.
[Unchained] Attribute Description: [You naturally reject all shackles placed on you, only the shackles you accept can be places upon you.]
The moment the Runes fully formed, the rune saying [Slave] became dull grey and lifeless.
'His body rejected me... because I am a shackle.'
The doctors on the other hand were horrified as they watched his body start to twitch and writhe.
They heard his bones break and watched them shift under his skin, his flesh split and fell from his frame before being replaced by new skin.
It was not just his skin, it was his tendons, muscle, nerves, and organs.
Every soft tissue in his body was going through a metamorphosis, and based on the tears streaming down his contorted face it was a very painful process.
Immediately the doctors jumped into action. As they hit a call button to request more help, they began to hold him down the best they could, trying to prevent him from hurting himself.
Soon, there was over twenty doctors and awakened healers in the room, tending to his writhing form.
At the sound of all the bustle, Cassie had become confused and scared about what was going on.
Even if she had conspired to leave him there, it hurt her beyond what words could express.
If both girls were honest with themselves, they could have both admitted they truly loved Sunny.
Yet they had left him there, with no way to return.
As Cassie's heart began to twist in guilt, she started to cry.
As Nephis hugged Cassie, tears began to roll from her eyes.
At that moment a particularly loud crack resounded in the room.
The sound made them both flinch, but they did not make any moves to leave.
Whatever was happening, it had happened because of them.
They were the ones who had chosen to leave him there, even if Nephis had changed her mind last second that did not change the fact that, until then she was planning to leave him.
After a few hours, the sounds of breaking bones and tearing flesh ceased.
Unfortunately, they were escorted out of the room within the first hour, so they were not able to see if Sunny was alright.
Soon, they found themselves in separate rooms being asked all kinds of questions about their time in the dream realm.
It was exhausting for them to answer questions regarding small things like the rank of creatures, the nature of the land, etc.
But eventually they were allowed to leave.
The next few days, they did not see each other due to having to find a place to anchor themselves and other responsibilities related to awakening.
However, on the third day. There was a celebration for all the survivors of the forgotten shore.
~~~
As Nephis approached the doors leading to the hall where the sleepers of the dark city, now awakened were loudly celebrating.
She saw a familiar girl.
Cassie was standing next to the door looking at the ground, and as she heard Nephis approach her head rose.
"Neph?"
"Yea it's me Cas."
As Nephis got closer, Cassie smiled.
"I was waiting for you, I wanted to meet the cohort together with you."
As a small grimace passed over Changing Star's face, she patted Cassie on the shoulder.
"It's okay Cas, he will make it back."
Cassie's face became stiff, but she nodded.
And soon they found themselves in a crowded room of the sleeper complex. They saw plenty of familiar faces and were given many thanks and praises.
But it was all the same, they thanked Nephis for not leaving them behind, they thanked her for saving their lives.
With every thank you she got, she realized that she was wrong.
She had always thought that she could give anything in exchange for power, in exchange for her goal.
But with every thanks, and praise she realized the one thing she could never give, even for her goals.
It was Sunny, the one she had left alone.
As she fought back the familiar feeling of loss and regret she spotted a familiar head of auburn hair.
Tapping on Cassie's shoulder, she began to walk in his direction.
It was time to meet some friends.
~~~
In the lightless remains of the Forgotten Shore, near the rubble of the once mighty Crimson Spire.
A young man with perfect pale skin, and hair that was like strands of the night sky lay on the dust.
His form was caked in dried blood, but he had no wounds.
He seemed... fine.
As he lay there on the dust, his eyes began to flutter.
As his eyes opened, two lightless orbs of pure shadows appeared, and as they did the shadow jumped and surged.
They were celebrating the return of their prince.
"Ah, what the hell was that?"
Sunny had felt pain before, but the pain he had just felt was something he could not even imagine.
As his vision focused, he started to take note of the land around him. It was safe to say, the crimson forest was no more.
All around him was... nothing. There was no crimson coral, no cyclopean tower, not even a single movement.
The entire world was lightless, silent, and still.
Where the once vivid crimson coral used to be there was now just muted gray dust.
And that was all there was for as far as the eye could see.
Although not too far away were the remnants of the crimson spire, but they also looked grey and lifeless.
As Sunny got to his feet, his mind began to spin.
'Where do I go from here, what is my objective.'
Well, his objective was obvious, he wanted to live. And to live he would have to find his way out of the Forgotten Shore, one way or another.
But as he started think about his future, the memories of his life that had flashed before his eyes came to his mind.
They were vivid, so much so that he could feel, smell, and taste the things he was remembering.
It was like he was living it while remembering.
As his mind relived his life over and over the voice of the spell spoke in his ear.
[You have recalled parts of your aspect legacy: Shadow Dance]
[You aspect legacy mastery has increased]
[You may claim a Legacy Relic]
[You may claim...]
[You may claim...]
Due to his current state of mind, he did not even feel surprised about his rewards.
He already knew what they would give him after all.
As he brought his runes forward though, his mind simply stopped working.
"Wh-what?!"
They read.
Name: Sunless.
True Names: Lost from Light, Prince of Death.
Rank: Dormant
Class: Titan
Shadow Cores [7/7]
Shadow Fragments: 0
Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Midnight Shard], [Ordinary Rock], [Endless Spring], [Prowling Thorn], [M...un...old..], [Weaver's Mask], [Broken Oath].
Echoes: -
Shadows: [Marble Saint].
Attributes: [Fateful], [Divine Grace], [Shadow Spawned], [Unchained], [Forbidden Holder], [The Weave].
Aspect: Shadow Prince.
Aspect Rank: Unknown
Aspect Description: [You are the direct spawn of Shadow and carry his legacy, you enjoy the loyalty and reverence of all shadows. You are a complete shadow and do not need to be cast, but when cast you become more complete and powerful. You possess many strange and wonderous powers.]
Innate Abilities: [Shadow Bond], [Shadow Born].
Aspect Ability: [Shadow Control].
Aspect Legacy: [Shadow Dance]
Flaw: [Clear Conscience]
Flaw Description: [You cannot lie.]
As Sunny read over his runes, he became very confused.
His runes had changed a lot, he had a second true name somehow, his Attributes had completely changed, his Aspect was different and possessed a new innate ability.
But the part that intrigued Sunny the most was his class, and shadow fragment counter.
Not only was he a Titan all of a sudden, but he did not have a cap to his shadow fragments.
According to his memories of the future, this was exactly one of his problems.
After attaining supremacy and reaching full saturation of his Titan core, his progress had utterly stalled.
But Sunny did not spend too much time dwelling on possibilities, he had a lot to go over see he decided to start at the top and make his way down.
Starting with his Attributes, Sunny called forward the runes.
Attributes: [Fateful], [Divine Grace], [Shadow Spawned], [Unchained], [Forbidden Holder], [The Weave].
'Not even a single familiar one.'
[Fate Breaker] Attribute Description: [You have broken fate and are free to change its events as you see fit.]
This specific Attribute did not have any traits and was pretty self explanatory yet it was a very powerful Attribute.
'Free reign over Fate huh.'
As his face turned hostile, he yelled.
"And why could you not have given this to me earlier, why now after everything is over?!"
Of course there was no answer.
Sunny could only grit his teeth and shake the unhealthy thoughts out of his mind. After calming down a little, he continued.
[Divine Grace] Attribute Description: [You have been chosen by multiple divinities and therefor carry the highest affiliation possible.]
Sunny simply grinned as he moved on.
[Shadow Spawned] Attribute Description: [You are a direct spawn of Shadow God and are the prince of all shadows, you can bestow the grace of shadows upon those you chose.]
[Shadow Spawned] Attribute Traits: [Shadow Step], [Shadow's Grace], [Veiled], [Champion].
[Shadow Step] Description: [You are one with the shadows and can freely move through them, traveling from one to another in an instant.]
[Shadow's Grace] Description: [You can bestow the grace of shadows on others giving them access to basic shadow abilities.]
[Veiled] Description: [While shrouded in shadows your presence is muted. Your smell is erased, your footsteps make no sound and leave no footprints.]
[Champion] Description: [When embraced by the shadows, you become stronger, regain essence quicker, and heal faster.]
Sunny just stared at the runes and blinked.
'Shadow Step?!'
Sunny's face looked deadpan, but the darkness swirling in his eyes seemed to gleam with delight.
He did not know exactly how the whole [Shadow's Grace] thing worked but Shadow Step was something he knew well.
Veiled and Champion spoke for themselves.
However, he would have to experiment to figure out if it was really the same ability.
Eyes full of glee, he moved to the next Attribute.
[Unchained] Attribute Description: [You naturally reject all shackles placed on you, only the shackles you accept can be places upon you.]
[Unchained] Attribute Traits: [Breaker].
[Breaker] Description: [Once you accept a shackle, you may reject them again at any time and break free.]
This one did not have any Traits, but it said everything it needed to.
But as Sunny read this, his heart became cold.
His eyes flicked down to [Shadow Bond] and he was that it was indeed gray and lifeless, just like it should have been.
But instead of seeing the rune [Master], he saw.
[Do you wish to accept Changing Star as your Master?]
Sunny's eyes widened as his mind became blank for a second.
'I... I get to choose.'
In the past, or future, Sunny hated he fact that his choice was stripped from him. He had been mad at Cassie for telling Nephis his True Name and had even cruelly severed their connection for it.
But now, not only did he have a choice, but he remembered just how much it had hurt her to do so.
He knew what lengths she would go to just to make up for what she had done.
The question was, would he allow Nephis to be his master. Or would he reject her and continue to hide his true name.
Well, the answer was obvious.
With the knowledge of the future came the regret he had felt once the connection was severed, and more than that.
[Breaker] Description: [Once you accept a shackle, you may reject them again at any time and break free.]
Letting out a sigh, he whispered.
"Yes"
[So be it.]
~~~