Cassie first met him in the Forgotten Shore. Robbed of her ability to see by the spell, she was thrown and left to die.
The Spell mocked her and sent her flying, slamming into the waters of the forsaken land.
She was ready to die, and let herself drown into the water's depths. No one would miss her, besides her family of course, but she had already told them how she couldn't possibly survive.
They still held a spark of hope. And she'll be extinguishing it by giving up and letting go.
...That's right, Cassia might want respite, but Cassie? Cassie is still missed, Cassie had a family, unlike the boy whose birthday was today.
So, Cassie did not simply let go, she fought under waves, even if hope seemed inevitable.
Cassie wanted to die fighting for tomorrow.
As she fought, and fought, and fought, the water enveloped her, trying to swallow what of her remains.
A wave crashed onto her, and it stole her away from the land and the sky, into the darkness of the sea.
Tears rolled down her eyes, falling into the abyss of the sea.
And as she prepared to take her last breath, a warm hand grabbed her and lifted her above the raging sea.
Breath.
Cassie took a breath, then another, then another, until... oxygen returned to her being.
And after a while of floating, of being pulled by a mysterious savior, she met land, cold and unfamiliar land, but it was land all the same.
Her eyelids closed themselves against her will.
"Cassie..." She heard her savior speak, and strangely, it was the same as the boy she had wished a happy birthday to earlier in the day.
That night, Cassie dreamt of drowning, of being pulled by the waves, and finally, her last breath being taken.
As the depths consumed her, she found herself falling from the sky, as a shining star flew across the earth, leaving harrowingly beautiful destruction in its wake.
She saw a shadow reaching up to the star, and the smell of iron, of death flowing long before him.
Cassie let out a whimper, and the shadow whipped around to face her, before it rushed and swallowed her.
Waking up with a gasp, Cassie was still in the dream. A radiant, surging flame lay beside her, and it got brighter, and brighter, chasing the darkness away.
Shadows lurked in the corners of the room, dancing with the flame as if chasing after it longingly.
As the scene got farther and farther away, a window suddenly appeared in view, snapping shut in front of her face, and the last scene she saw was of the shadows and the flames blaring and threatening to consume one another.
Then, Cassie saw strings extending to the sky, and a porcelain doll with a blindfold holding the strings between her fingers like a puppeteer.
Yet, when she looked closer, she saw the blindfold hanging closely, with a broken smile tainting its lips. And Cassie gulped, before gathering the courage, and slowly walked forward.
Peeling the blindfold off, broken blue eyes stared at her.
It was the last thing Cassie saw before she was consumed by the darkness and saw no more.
—
The next morning, she awoke to the sound of chittering and moving, of sounds of flesh being bitten and torn.
Shakily grasping the air, she wanted to reach out to where her savior was, to at least hold some reassurance that she wasn't alone in this dark world.
Frantically looking around, she then remembered she was blind and she couldn't see, as memories of the previous night crashed into her.
She was alive.
Someone saved her.
Cassia let out a breath of respite, Cassie weeped joyful tears. She was fine, she was alive, everything was alright.
Cassie could almost imagine she was back on Earth.
Her whimpers must have awakened her saviour, because, with that calming voice he had called out her name, he asked her:
"Cassia, are you fine now?"
Cassie didn't know what she should say, so she frantically nodded and said thank you. Yet no sound came out.
Her saviour confusingly asked, "Thank you? Is it that you cannot speak?"
Cassie nodded. She was sure who he was byis by now, the outcast who sitsseats at the same table as her back in the Academy, the 'crazy pervertpevert' according to everyone else.
Cassie didn't believe them of course.
Sunless coughed into his hand, "You… you weren't wearing anything when I… I saved you."
She blushed, and instinctively covered her body.
He frantically added, "I swear, I didn't see anything! When you went to sleep, I scavenged some seaweed off the statue and covered you with it!"
Now that he mentioned it, Cassie indeed felt something uncomfortable cover her body. It was better than nothing of course.
"Do you have an armor?" He asked.
Cassie shook her head. She felt a hand grasp hers, and an electric feeling passing into her body.
[You have received a Memory: Puppeteer's Shroud.]
She stared at him, wide eyed.
Cassie didn't deserve such a Memory.
"You can give it to me when we encounter a Nightmare Creature," Sunless embarrassingly said.
Cassie thankfully nodded, and immediately summoned the Memory. It was warm, and it chased away the cold she had felt since her arrival to the Forgotten Shore.
"Which reminds me, you still can't speak." He coughed into his hand, "Try drinking some water, it'll help your throat, but we'll have to wait for rain."
Cassie did an 'X' sign with her hands, and summoned the [Endless Spring], which appeared in her hands after a few seconds.
Greedily gulping down the water, she only took the bottle after a few minutes of drinking.
Trying her hand in speaking, she croaked out, "Thanks," and held out the [Endless Spring] to Sunless.
He took it and greedily gulped it down.
They took turns drinking it until their thirst were quenched.
"Thank you Cassia, I didn't have any water yet after I came to this… this place in the Dream Realm."
Cassie smiled, her voice still hoarse, "Cassie. Call me Cassie," She said, "But I should be the one thanking you, you gave me this… this armor."
Sunless laughed, "Sunny." He said, "My family and friends call me Sunny."
"Mmmm, alright," Cassie hummed, and turned to address a more serious issue, "What's happening? I heard the sound of chittering and flesh being torn…"
She whimpered as she said that, and shivered in fear. What if they kill her?
"Demonic crabs," Sunny said darkly, "There was a corrupted creature who recently died near where we are — a platform on top a giant statue, and demonic crabs are feasting on its flesh."
He then added, "Once day arrives, the dark sea we were surged and seethed, seeping into the ground below. That's how those demonic crabs are feasting on the corrupted creature that was chasing us last night."
Cassie gulped, processing the information, "What should we do?"
"Nothing, I'll have to observe more."
And like that, the conversation was cut.
As midday approached, she asked in a whisper, "Why did you save me?"
Sunny stayed silent for a while, before letting out a wry laugh, "Would you believe me if I said that such a cruel Flaw would mean a powerful Aspect?"
"I believe you, but that isn't the reason is it?" Cassie didn't want to pry for his reasons, but she had to, she had to know why.
Sunny groaned, "You're right, how about this? You remind me of my sister." He said, his voice filled with indescribable longing.
And somehow, she knew what he said was the truth, not the complete and absolute truth, but still truth.
They didn't talk for quite some while.
"A seer," She said, and Sunny let out a grunt of confusion, "I have an affinity for revelations and fate. I can also look at the Attributes of others."
"Why are you telling me this?" Sunny confusingly asked.
"Because– because you saved me."
"I could be doing that out of pity."
Cassie gave him a mysterious smile, "But I trust you."
Sunny sighed, "You shouldn't trust me."
"I have no choice," She shrugged, "If I don't trust you, how else am I supposed to survive?"
Sunny opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment, a gust of wind rushed across them, effectively drowning out whatever he was saying. She could vaguely register the faraway kind of longing he held at that moment.
Sunny stood up, and walked closer to her, "I'm a scout, my shadow isn't like any usual shadow, it can separate from me, and scout the nearby area."
Cassie nodded appreciatively.
"I'll scout the area, while you can tell me whatever vision you see," He paused, "Or the Attributes of the Nightmare Creatures we meet in the future."
Should she tell him? He had been eternally kind to her, she owed him her life after all. He had also given her that armor, didn't he?
"...Sunny?" She quietly asked, "I didn't tell you, but I had a vision that night."
Sunny snapped his head, "What did you see?"
"I was drowning," She whispered, taking breaths of air to calm herself down, "I was drowning, and… the darkness swallowed me."
"What an ominous vision."
"There's more. I saw a shining star flying across the Earth, leaving destruction in its wake. I saw a shadow chasing after it, with death following closely behind. As the darkness consumed me once again, I awoke to a radiant flame, dancing with the shadows in an eternal battle."
Cassie paused, finding the courage in her to continue.
"At last, I saw strings reaching to the sky, with a porcelain doll with a blindfold holding them lifelessly. I felt fearful, yet curious. Beneath the blindfold held broken, sky blue eyes, and… and a shattered smile."
At this, tears spilled from her eyes, her vision was practically a nightmare, showing her scenes of death, of destruction, and of broken pieces.
Sunny patted her back, "...It must be hard for you, drink some water, it'll help you calm down."
Summoning the [Endless Spring], she drowned the entirety of its contents, and they didn't speak, Sunny pondering over the contents of her vision, she calming herself down.
When her thoughts were finally coherent, she summoned the runes of the [Puppeteer's Shroud], and was shocked by what she saw.
Memory: [Puppeteer's Shroud].
Memory Rank: Awakened
Memory Tier: V
Memory Type: Armor
Memory Description: [A worm of doubt once found its way into a righteous king's heart. With time, the king was devoured from the inside and became its puppet. A lifetime later, the Puppeteer Worm escaped from the king's dead body, leaving behind a cocoon of black silk. No one knows where it went; however, once people approached the castle, they found the silk among the mountains of gnawed armor and fashioned it into an armor.]
Cassir was speechless, she knew he wasn't what he seemed, but this? This was unheard of.
It… It was simply impossible…
Until now.
It was an Awakened armor of the fifth rank, what had Sunny done in order to kill an Awakened Tyrant?
Cassie was curious, deadly curious, but she knew everyone had their secrets, just like how she had hers.
It wouldn't be good to pry.
Who was Sunny though? Who was he?
If he killed an Awakened Tyrant, then her life would probably be safe in his hands.
Why did he hide his achievements though?
Cassie shook her head, she shouldn't pry into the secrets of her savior.
Eventually, the sun went down, and the sea rose again with a rumble. They whispered quiet goodnights, heading off into the realm of sleep.
That night, Cassie slept peacefully, in the comfort of the shroud.
She had no visions, she had no nightmares.
With him, everything was fine.