Chapter 10: Arrival
On an island floating above a bottomless abyss, a strange creature that looked like an amalgamation of a wolf and rhino walked. Its hide was rotting, making it look weak and frail.
Anyone who fell for this would be quickly torn apart, it was a Corrupted Monster after all!
It walked with unsteady steps, stopping every few meters to let out chittering clacks from its wide maw.
In the silence of the night, it was like a beacon calling for violence.
Its snout suddenly twitched as it fell onto all fours, its horn lowered and ready.
Its beady lifeless eyes searched for the source of the odious smell, but as it looked around, a blade fell from the side.
Its black lusterless surface screamed of danger as it whistled through the air.
Knowing it would not survive being struck by the blade, it spun with impossible speed for something of its size. The horn on its snout met the tenebrific sword.
However, instead of stopping, the sword slid through the keratin horn and sliced an ear off the vile creature.
It wailed in pain as its paw flew to attack the perpetrator, but only air met its strike.
In an instant it spun, its rudimentary intelligence told it the next attack would be from behind.
As its body turned, an arrow suddenly sunk into its skin, at first it was like a pin in its side. But as the creature's essence was stolen by the arrow, it became heavier and heavier until the creature could no longer ignore it.
Instead of spinning to intercept the next attack, its jaw ripped into its own hide, trying to remove the arrow. However, this would be its undoing.
As it violently tore into its own side, the shadows churned, spikes sprouting from the ground , piercing through its soft belly.
A vile screech erupted into the night, its sound raking against Sunny's ears, however he didn't let up.
Using the fact it was pinned in place, Sunny rushed close, the blade carving a path across its exposed neck.
The loud screech stopped abruptly as its throat erupted with black feted blood. It bathed Sunny from head to toe, his armor covered with the vile liquid.
Its towering body slumped, the spikes dissolving.
Sunny jumped back a few meters to avoid its falling body, he did not want to be hugged by it.
As it hit the ground, the spell whispered into his ear.
[You have slain a Corrupted Monster: Akhlut Spawn.]
[Your shadow grows stronger.]
Sunny waited for it to announce a memory, but he knew he was not very lucky. He had not earned a single memory since his second nightmare ended.
Actually, he had gained less than twenty since he gained knowledge of the future. It irked him beyond belief, but he had to admit, with his knowledge he could just make anything he needed.
He could even forge a shadow bound memory if given enough time.
As he grumbled over his luck, Saint emerged from the shadows of the night. In her hand was a bow made from pure darkness, it was the [Dark Bow] Sunny had made during his second nightmare.
Memory: [Dark Bow]
Memory Rank: Ascended
Memory Teir: III
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description: [Made by the treacherous Lost from Light in the depths of a never-ending nightmare.]
Memory Enchantments: [Unbending], [Piercing]
The first of its enchantment was an augmented copy of an enchantment on [Morgan's Warbow], but the second was a simple and deadly enchantment.
[Piercing] Description: [Any arrow fired from this bow pierces deep and shatters armor.]
It was a bow version of FMJ.
The arrow that had hit it was none other than [Burden Bringer], it was the most powerful of all his memory arrows, and for a simple reason.
Memory: [Burden Bringer]
Memory Rank: Ascended
Memory Teir: III
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description: [Made by the treacherous Lost from Light in the depths of a never-ending nightmare.]
Memory Enchantments: [Devouring], [Burdening]
[Devouring] Description: [This arrow devours the soul essence of its target.]
[Burdening] Description: [As this arrow drinks the essence of its target, it grows heavier and heavier.]
Not only did it restrain the movements of its mark, it absorbed its essence. This was not an unprecedented enchantment, but it was a very useful against enemies with a lot of essence.
In fact, the more essence the enemy has, the heavier it will get. It was the perfect example of a scaling enchantment.
But Sunny could not spend a lot of time dwelling on it, he quickly extricated the shards and continued to make his way towards a familiar island.
On the way, he stopped to slay a few more Corrupted and Fallen Creatures, retrieving their shards and continuing.
Within just a few hours, he was standing on the edge of Shipwreck Island.
Sunny would have been a little weirded out by them trying to repair it, there was no water anywhere of note here. But in his memories, he saw just what kind of ship it was.
He even named it!
With a smile on his face, he shadow stepped directly into their midst. He chose to appear next to a familiar face, a girl named Shim.
As he appeared from the shadows, the girl jumped to her feat, memory sword already in hand.
Sunny frowned.
'What's with that reaction?'
Only then did he realize he was dressed in the [Marble Shell's] mantle, not to mention all the blood on him.
'Oh.'
He dismissed the helmet of the shell, revealing his gorgeous face and long black hair.
"Hey Shim, long time no see."
Shim just stared at him a little dazed, then her memory dismissed as she half walked half ran towards him and enveloped him in a hug.
"Sunny! We thought you would die in there! When did you get back? How did you get back? Wait, how are you even here?"
Sunny winced at the questions.
"Today, Nightmare Seed, and a Saint I guess?"
He smiled as he removed himself from her.
'Why is someone not close to me so huggy, but Nephis had to copy Cassie's greeting?!'
It was a true travesty.
"Is the cohort here?"
Shim nodded.
"Yea, they showed up earlier today."
Her eyes seemed to contemplate something.
"They knew you were back, didn't they?"
He smiled and nodded.
"They were there when I woke up."
Shim let out a girly 'hmph', but turned to lead the way.
In a few minutes they were inside a large tent, it was not extravagant, the only difference between it and the others was its size.
As he entered, Shim disappeared off to somewhere outside, only leaving him with a wave and a "See you later."
The sound of the tent flap drew everyone's attention, as they saw him, their expressions brightened.
But as they looked him over, they suddenly were not so lively.
Sunny chuckled.
"It is not mine, I did some Corrupted hunting on the way. I need shards for something."
Effie looked shocked.
"Doofus! You killed a Corrupted beast!?"
Sunny looked at her.
"No, I killed a Corrupted Monster."
She looked absolutely flabbergasted.
Kai who could tell lies knew he was telling the truth and just silently face palmed.
If Effie was of a keen mind, she would have remembered his flaw, but she was currently too busy gnawing on a bone like a dog with a treat.
Sunny suddenly realized.
'No wonder her true name is Raised by Wolves.'
He smiled and suppressed laughter.
"What, you have not killed a Corrupted creature before?"
Effie sighed and threw a finger back at Nephis.
"She has, but not everyone can compare to you weirdos!"
Kai nodded.
Cassie and Nephis took that as their cue.
"Hey Sunny, it's nice to see you again."
Cassie gave him a nod.
"Hey Neph, hey Cass."
Sunny moved to the empty seat, making sure to dismiss his bloody armor.
As he sat, shadows coiled from the ground forming flowing robes of dark silk.
By the time he was sitting, the form of his dreadful armor was gone, replaced by a Sunny that looked closer to some kind of Dark Lord than the pauper he was.
The silence stretched for a long moment before Sunny asked:
"What?"
Effie snorted.
"You really look like a villain right now."
He chuckled.
"That's kind of the idea actually."
Effie raised an eyebrow.
"What are you talking about?"
Sunny leaned further into his seat as he thought over his words.
This was an important conversation that would dictate the path Sunny would take.
There was only one way it could go.
"Well, that is part of what I am here to talk to you about."
'Where to begin...'
"If you have not already figured it out, my flaw is that I cannot lie. I am also forced to answer any question directed at me. My Aspect was Divine but has grown stronger since the Forgotten Shore."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I also have a divine lineage, two actually, and a couple Divine memories too, but that's about it."
"..."
Kai cleared his throat.
"Uhm, Sunny... Nephis already told us..."
Sunny was surprised.
He hadn't expected them to already know, but as he thought about it, it made a weird kind of sense.
In normal circumstances, Sunny would have been upset his secrets were shared, however, he trusted them.
"Well, that saves me from having to explain it all."
After a moment, he turned to Nephis.
"During our fight in the crimson spire, just before you spoke my true name. I... Had a vision."
Cassie flinched, her gaze snapping up.
"Like mine?"
Sunny shook his head.
"No. It was... different. It felt like watching my life on rewind. Starting in the future, I watched my own life in reverse, I saw it all leading back to the present moment, the moment she spoke my true name."
Cassie bit her lip but didn't say anything else.
The others however... Their minds thought back to the conversation they had many months ago.
To the specific attribute that had confused them all.
[Forbidden Holder] Attribute Description: [You have lived as a Supreme and recall all you learned, thus you possess forbidden knowledge of the future and the –Unknown-.]
Effie cleared her throat.
"So Sunny, what exactly did you see in the future?"
Sunny silently winced, golden sparks spiraling into existence.
In moments, a dark mask rested on his face muffling his voice as he said:
"I don't know."
In the next, it vanished, his voice no longer obscured.
"The future isn't something you can just share freely, it requires a certain level of finesse, something I learned from perhaps the greatest Seer alive."
He shot a glance at Cassie, her eyes were not yet hidden behind a blindfold, the beautiful blue color reminding him of the lake around Bastion.
"I can't tell you everything, but I will tell you what I can."
He sighed.
"First, you need to Ascend. It is key for any viable path forward, and I have the perfect way."
Sparks of light formed in his hand, a bag made from plain leather forming in his grasp.
He inserted his hand, then elbow, then his entire arm down to the shoulder was inside as he rummaged through it.
"Ahah."
With a quick motion, Sunny pulled and entire human skeleton from the small bag.
Holding it by the spine, he held it aloft, a beaming smile on his face.
"Behold, your essence refining instructor, as well as the person who helped me find a nightmare seed."
Silence, utter silence.
Even if they knew he was not lying, it was hard to see the skeleton as anything but dead.
That was until the skeleton groaned, its jaw clicking.
"I am not a cub, Little Shadow, release me."
Sunny shook the Skeleton in his grasp.
"Yeah yeah, just get to introductions."
The skeleton creaked as its skull twisted, its empty socket glaring at the shadow holding its spine.
Seconds passed, and as the skeleton realized he would not be released, it sighed, or whatever skeletons did.
His skull turned to the people standing before him.
His eyes instantly landed on Nephis, his bones twitching.
"She really is a Nephilim..."
Nephis seemed a little surprised by his words, however as he began to introduce himself, she forgot all about it.
"Hello, children of War, I am Eurys of The Nine. Pleased to meet you."
The four of them exchanged confused glances, they were clearly not very enthused by the prospect.
"Ah, they don't even know of the nine... How the mighty have fallen."
Sunny finally released him, instead patting his boney shoulder.
"It is alright, at least you don't have to spend another droll moment with Azarax on that tree."
He contemplated this for a second before his jaw clicked.
"You are not wrong."
Sunny gave him one final pat and turned back to the group.
"I will leave him here with you while I'm gone."
Picking up on his wording, Nephis asked.
"Where are you going?"
Sitting back in his seat, Sunny thought for a second before answering.
"That leads back to what Effie said earlier."
Hearing her name, Effie spoke.
"You mean about you being a villain?"
He nodded.
"Yeah, while you guys Ascend in the dream realm, I will be spending time in the Waking World. I also have a few chores I need to finish while I'm here."
He pondered on his next words, then said.
"You also need to decide on a cohort of fire keepers to take on the second nightmare."
Hearing his words, they gave him a questioning look.
"Sunny, I get why we need to Ascend, that is why you brough us Eurys. But we can't just send people into a nightmare."
Kai had a point, however.
"I am not sending them in for nothing."
He gestured up.
"The Ivory Tower houses a seed of nightmare. Once conquered, the seed becomes a gateway, making the entire Tower into a citadel."
Cassie's voice was quite, yet confident.
"In order to claim the Citadel, the Seed has to be cleared. That is why you need a cohort to conquer it."
Sunny gave her a serious nod, however Cassie continued.
"I am sorry to tell you Sunny, but there are no fire keepers ready to conquer a second nightmare, there are too many variables when entering a nightmare. To many ways they could be challenged. There is no way we could send them."
Sunny only smiled.
"That would be the case if it was not for the fact that I know exactly what the nightmare entails, its challenges and characters, as well as its main conflict."
Cassie's eyes widened.
The other three only took a second longer to realize.
"It was the nightmare you went through before, wasn't it?"
Nephis' question wasn't harmful, just curious.
"It was, however, the circumstances will be much different."
Sunny had already made a plan to ensure the cohort sent would survive. Well, to give them the highest chance possible.
"There is a prison on these Isles, it contains the Prince of Valor, Mordret. He is a divine aspect weilder and a child of a mirror wraith, an other, from Bastion.
Sunny sighed, he knew what he was doing.
"His clan locked him up, destroying his body in the waking world. The only way for him to return to the waking world is to complete the second nightmare."
His words hung in the air until Nephis asked.
"Can he be trusted?"
Sunny scoffed.
"Not a chance, that thing is perhaps more vile than some nightmare creatures. However, I am... fairly certain he will never leave the nightmare."
Effie was curious.
"How?"
Sunny smirked.
"Well, I am not there to prevent him from meeting Hope... With some luck, he will challenge her to a soul dual."
Sunny imagined what would happen if you invaded the soul sea of a Divine Deamon. The only answer he could find was something bad.
"But what if he does escape the nightmare, how much of a threat could he turn out to be?"
Sunny shot her a glance.
"Well, it depends who he fights. He can enter your soul, fighting you for control of your body. If he wins, your soul dies, he gains control of your body, as well as all the memories inside. Then, he will impersonate you, lowering those you care for's guard, then he will take them too."
With every word, the expressions on their faces darkened.
"I am telling you now, Mordret is perhaps just as bad as the Sovereigns, possibly worse if he is allowed to reach Supreme himself. However, there is a flaw in his ability."
They all stopped, listening.
"When he enters your soul, he is forced to use your Aspect. For someone like Effie, she is the perfect target for him. With his increased strength from your own aspect, he would use his superior skill to end you."
He gestured to Nephis.
"Meanwhile, just entering her soul sea is fatal, it will burn him away. Mine is also a bad choice, as the shadows that make up my domain defend my soul sea naturally."
Nephis' ears perked up at his words.
"Wait, you know what a domain is?"
Sunny smiled.
"Ah, yes, I do, but that is something we can talk about at a later date. Truth be told, I am on a bit of a time crunch and am already running late."
She held his gaze for a moment, then nodded.
"Alright, then there is just one more... oh."
Suddenly, Sunny stood, his body turning inky as it fell into the shadows below his feet.
"Wha-"
*Crash*
The sound of splintering wood and shattering stone echoed through the tent fabric as the cohort swiftly left, each of them summoning their memories.
The sound of fighting was clear in the night, powerful limbs sending slight tremors through the ground. Then, a shriek pierced the night, its tone fading as whatever creature made it died.
Hundreds of lighting artifacts were summoned, nearly every fire keeper rushing to see what the commotion was.
The dim glow cast by the lighting artifacts bloomed as their number increased until there was a clear view.
Wood littered the rocky ground, pieces of the ship's hull scattered about. Near the center of the debris field, a lump of flesh oozed dark blood, its head made from a large chest had been nearly split in two, the rancid face on the inside carved down the middle, golden coins spilling everywhere.
On its lanky body stood a figure straight out of a novel. He was dressed in fine, dark robes, wore no armor. His skin was pale as snow, his hair dark as the night around him.
In his hand, a dark blade odachi rested, its blade glinting in the dim light.
Noticing the attention, he scratched the back of his head, a small chest forming from golden sparks.
Catching the little chest in his palm, he made a gesture with it.
"Sorry about that, I was collecting antiques!"
Nobody spoke, each of them simply taking in the other worldly sight. Sunny released the little box as it began to greedily hunt for the golden coins on the ground.
As his eyes scanned the crowd, he suddenly felt embarrassed.
He looked to the shadows under his feet.
"You get it right?"
His shadows split into seven and gave him a mixed bag of reactions. Happy gave him an energetic thumbs up while lazy just threw him a lazy nod.
The rest basically ignored him.
"Wow, tough crowd."
He wrapped the six back around him, the last acting as his shadow.
He crouched on the devil's chest, his sword contorting into a sharp dagger.
With a few quick movements, five glimmering shards were removed from the creature's chest, each being simply tossed behind him.
Without fail, each soul shard was caught by a chirpy chest, its little lid clacking every time it grabbed one out of the air.
Only after each of the crystals was safely tucked away did he dismount the creature's body.
As he looked to his cohort, he realized they were still staring. However, their amazement had faded to something more raw, something akin to worry.
As he walked towards them, Effie spoke.
"Hey Doofus, are you sure your okay?"
Sunny offered her a smile, but was quickly shot down.
"I am not talking about physically, I mean mentally."
Sunny paused.
His flaw was not pressuring him to answer, which meant that he himself did not know the answer.
"I don't know." He said simply.
"I have never exactly been "Alright" to begin with. So, I can't really say."
At that moment, a small box scurried over, its little legs carrying it like some kind of bug.
"Ah, this is one of those errands I told you about."
The chest clacked a few times before dissolving into sparks.
Nephis was the one to ask:
"So, you have already found one of your goals. But you haven't really told us about them other than claiming the tower of Hope, and us Ascending."
Sunny nodded.
"I have a few things I have to do, but most importantly, I need to hunt down my shadows. Mimic was perhaps the most useful, but I still need to find the others."
He sighed.
"I also need to visit the Waking World to take care of a few things, that is where I will spend most of my time after today."
Nephis nodded, satisfied with his explanation.
Effie however, was not.
"You are just gonna stick us with an old skeleton and run off?"
Sunny shook his head, trying to explain.
"There are things happening in the waking world, things I can't tell you about yet. Under most circumstances, I would just tell you, however, I want your full focus on Ascension, not whatever I may be doing."
Effie didn't like his response, but understanding she wouldn't be able to change anything, she relented.
Kai gave Sunny a warm smile, and a small wave.
"It was good seeing you Sunny, I hope it won't be long before we see you again."
Cassie on the other hand, only offered Sunny a reserved smile.
"It really was good to see you, Sunny."
He could feel the tension in her shadow, the way it twisted with grief and resentment.
'Ah, speaking of shadows.'
"Cassie, I wanted you to have this."
He made no moves, only waited for Cassie to say: "What?"
Then, the shadows moved, encompassing her's entirely. In mere seconds, the depth and darkness of her shadow increased as she gasped.
As whole world opened to her, the shadows under her feet becoming a mere extension of her body, the shadows around her acting as markers in place.
Everything cast a shadow, and through that shadow, Cassie was able to glimpse a bit of the world around her.
However, it was the Shadow under her feet that mattered the most.
"I... can see."
Shadow sense both worked to perceive the shadows around you, but also to perceive through your own shadow.
Somehow, in a way that Sunny did not understand, this worked around her flaw, allowing her sight.
'Now that I think about it, it does not seem that far fetched. Shadow made something like death, the end to that which is endless. He took the privilege of death from Eurys, making him into an unkillable skeleton.'
So why couldn't shadow do something as simple as work around a flaw?
Hearing her words, Effie stared to barrage her with questions while Kai watched.
Nephis however...
She stared at Sunny, her eyes not leaving his face once.
He looked to her, their eyes meeting.
No words passed between them, she simply took a step forward, making Sunny sigh.
The shadows moved, wrapping around her shadow and reinforcing it. Just like Cassie, she suddenly gained the ability to perceive shadows as well as see through her own shadow.
"Happy?"
Nephis gave him a long look, then nodded.
"Yes, thank you Sunny."
He smiled, his mouth opening to speak.
"Ahem."
He turned to see Effie and Kai, their eyes twinkling with expectation.
"Oh, come on!"