Chapter 6: Strange... but if it works?
Sunny was heading to the headquarters after his fruitful discussion with Obel. Thanks to the old man, he finally had at least some semblance of a plan.
'The only problem are these unknown variables...'
These had him worried, but there was nothing he could do. He just had to try, at least.
He entered the large headquarters of Falcon Scott, walking through the hallway and occasionally greeting a few workers and guards with a nod. It would've taken him too long to walk up all the stairs, so he just shadow stepped his way upstairs.
He quickly reached his destination. It was the office of Jet. 'Let's just... check that nothing is wrong first.'
He felt her shadow in the room and then knocked on the door, not bothering to wait for a reply. He entered.
Jet meanwhile was staring at a pile of papers with an annoyed expression. As the 1st in command, she personally had to approve many things. She was used to being a kind of government slave by now, but it was still tedious.
The recent news she's received from White-Feather messengers didn't give her any solace as well. Everything seemed to be getting worse after the last destructive battle...
'And now some bastard is knocking on my door and entering without permission as well!'
"Hey, Jet! Long time no—"
Sunny stuttered at the end, staring at Jet with an uncomfortable smile as he raised his hands in mock surrender.
She was shooting him a death glare. Her aura radiating death and destruction... but then it went away as quickly as it came...?
'Huh...?'
"Oh. Hey Sunny, what is it? As you can see, i'm quite busy here..." Jet looked at him with a casual smile, but it was a but strained as well.
'I guess she already knows of Tyris or has a suspicion, at least.'
Sunny pulled out his communicator, wanting to get this over with quickly.
"Sorry Jet, I just need to send a message on my communicator, and for that, i need the faster network channel from the military high command. That's all"
Jet looked at him for a moment, wondering where exactly the joke was?
"You're kidding, Sunny... what could be so important that you'd need to temporarily disrupt the high command? A message to who? And why?"
'Shit. Telling her I time traveled would make her think I've lost it...'
Sunny grumbled a bit, running a hand down his face.
"I have to send my little sister a message... It's super important, and the whole fate of Falcon Scott depends on it!"
Jet looked at him for a moment... and then burst out laughing. She slapped her desk, making it groan as she tried to stop her laughter.
Sunny watched her, his eye twitching as he groaned a bit.
'Damnation...'
When she finally calmed down, she gave Sunny a smile of mock understanding.
"Sunny, you dont have to lie... if you want to send your little sister a death letter, I can just get someone to bring it to her in NQSC."
"That's... not what I meant, Jet." He walked over and sat down across her. He had a serious expression now.
"You've noticed, haven't you? The snowstorm is picking up, and Tyris is losing her fight. We don't have much time."
Jet's demeanor quickly grew serious as she crossed her arms.
"Lose her fight...? Sunny, I've heard something from the White-Feather messengers – Sure – but how would you know she's losing?"
Sunny gritted his teeth for a moment and then slowly answered. "Yes, she's gonna lose come tomorrow morning. I know some things I shouldn't and you shouldn't ask. I've got an affinity to fate, too, so my intuition is sharper than mosts."
Jet wasn't exactly pleased by the vagueness he offered, but she still wanted to trust him. They went through so much together, and he wouldn't do anything stupid when they were this close to succeeding with the evacuation.
"Alright then... let's say Tyris loses and the Winter Beast is coming for us. What is messaging your little sister on military network gonna do?"
He didn't hesitate. "It will bring us a much needed ally. It's an... echo of mine that actually could give me a chance at fighting the Winter Beast. You gotta trust me, Jet."
Jet nodded a bit. She knew Sunny was a cunning devil when he needed to be. She sighed. "So you've actually already got a plan against that Winter Beast... I must admit, I didn't expect you to be planning ahead so much." She paused, looking at him in the eyes with seriousness.
"Do you actually think we'd have a chance? Should your "ally" make it here in time?"
Immediately nodding, Sunny had a determined look in his face now. "Yes. It's our best chance to do it once Tyris is out of the fight. I'm sure of it."
Jet nodded, finally accepting his request as he reached out her hand. "Alright then, give me your communicator for a moment. And don't you dare fail now after hyping this up, little Devil."
A while later, Sunny sent the message to Rain. He let out a breath in relief. The first step of the plan is now done. The rest is up to Rain...
*
Shadow stepping out of the HQ complex, Sunny made his way back to the huge crater in the southern part. He had a few things he needed to gather for a Weaving project.
'Get the shards, get the materials...'
Thanks to [Soul weave] and his 4 cores, he had a huge essence pool that no mere ascended was supposed to have. But it wasn't only his quantity but also the quality and resilience of his soul that was strengthened.
'That should be enough for my little project...' Sunny looked up at the Aurora shimmering in the sky of Antarctica. His "plan" was all dependent on how Rain would react. He knew she was a clever girl and picked up on things fast. She was his sister, after all! 'That gal... she literally moved a divine fragment of the shadow realm as soon as she awakened... I think she'll figure it out.'
He shadow stepped where he needed to be, searching the remains of Fiend, and he quickly found it. Or what remained of it.
'Heh... I got you real good, didn't it, you little bastard?'
Fiend had been half eaten by the bug swarm Sunny unleashed upon it. It was mangled and almost unrecognizable... but what he needed was still here.
"Bingo! Whatever bingo means..."
He started scavenging the 4 shining transcendent soul shards from the corrupted devil, planning to use them for his Weaving project.
'This should do.'
Now, all he needed was materials he could apply his sorcery to. And he knew exactly where to get them.
He summoned his loyal steed, Nightmare out of the shadows, and gave it a few pats. "Hey, nightmare, it's good to see you again. Don't worry, I'll get you to transcendent rank in no time!"
Nightmare let out a snort, seemingly pleased while Sunny put on the saddle and mounted his Shadow.
Together, they quickly traveled through the shadows and left the area of Falcon Scott. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the crumbled corpse of Goliath. It's head to be exact.
"You are one ugly corpse, huh?" Sunny mused as he summoned the [Cruel Sight] and started carving out bits and pieces of the fire red eye Goliath had used to melt the world around it. This would be the perfect material for a heat source memory he could use to directly counter the Winter beast's nascent winter domain. 'It won't completely shield me from a Titan... but I'll get close enough.'
After collecting and storing the eye's materials in the [Covetous coffer], he looked down at the [Cruel sight], specifically, its description.
Memory Description:[...Full of pride, the noble knight made a deal with the Dreamspawn. Years later, the knight had defeated all his enemies and became a mighty king. On the day that his son uttered the first word, the Dreamspawn came to the king and demanded his pay. He left the kingdom with the child and disappeared, never to be seen again. Much later, the young prince returned and stood beneath his father's throne. He expected to be met with joy and warmth but was met with fear and suspicion instead.]
Sunny sighed a bit. He didn't get it back then, but now he unstood that this was the story of Mordret, Anvil, and Asterion. Anvil had used his son as a bargain to get Asterion's help in killing Broken-Sword... and Mordret was left to deal with the consequences.
'... I wonder if he would have been less strange if he hadn't been with that monster.'
But there was no time for these theories and hypothetical scenarios. He had to get things done. And fast.
"Well, nightmare... why don't we go back to the shore? I wanna go for a little swim."
And so, they rode together to the shore of the freezing Antarctic ocean...
*
Sunny had once mastered the 4th and 5th steps of Shadow-Dance before. So he knew exactly how to quickly remaster everything he needed to. Now that he Fortunately – Or Unfortunately – had his True name back he could pursue the Shadow-Dance with more security.
"Well... it's all or nothing now. Here I go..."
He didn't feel like plunging into ice-cold water at all. But it had to be done. He would assume the shadow shell form of Deareon of Twilight and go kill some underwater nightmare creatures while he was at it.
This was the way he had achieved the breakthrough of the 4th step last time, so now he'd do it again... and hopefully not lose his mind.
'Ahhh... so cold!'
The water splashed as Sunny was submerged underwater. The shadows around him moved, forming the figure of a giant Onyx Sea Serpent around him.
*
Meanwhile, in the suburbs of NQSC...
Sitting in a cozy and generously decorated room, Rain was sitting on her bed, throwing her shadow nervous glances occasionally.
Rain had been excited at first when she finally received a message from Sunny. She really was. But of course... She was trying to accept the reality of what Sunny had just explained to her. And what he wanted her to do.
She looked at her communicator, making sure that she wasn't actually dreaming...
Send at 23:12
Sunny: "Hey, Rain. This is extremely urgent. You have to believe me. Millions of lives are at stake. I've... hid an echo like shadow in your Shadow, Rain. I've initially did it because I wanted to protect you while I was away, but now everything is going to shit and I NEED IT BACK! There is a Corrupted Titan marching on Falcon Scott as we speak! And the only way I could possibly defeat it is if you order my Shadow – it's name's Serpent, btw – to return to me in Falcon Scott! PLEASE RAIN I'll give you cool memories and credits and free training and everything!! JUST SEND THE DAMM SNAKE IM BEGGING YOU!
As for how you send it back to me... I've "bestowed it's Blessing upon you," mundane girl. So you have a "temporary ownership" over my poor Serpent. MEANING, you can just tell him that his job of protecting you is done, and he needs to return to me as fast as possible. Be it through air, water, or something else(he can shape-shift BTW, pretty cool right?) Shit I'm running out of characters... Order. Return. Show. Way. Map. NQSC. Falcon Scott. Fastest. Sorry."
Rain was feeling conflicted... it really sounded like her teacher and the city of Falcon Scott were in danger. But at the same time, her teacher just admitted that he hid a SERPENT IN HER SHADOW! Of course, it was for protection... he said. But it was still a shock to her!
But when she thought about it more... the less sense it made. Why would he leave an echo... Shadow? That's apparently strong enough to challenge a Corrupted Titan as he said!? She was just a mundane girl... sure, he was her teacher and friend, and he did seem quite fond and protective... but why would he go to such lengths as to risk his own safety to protect her?
'Just why do you care so much, Sunny?'
She looked down at her shadow again, gathering courage for a moment...
"H-hey... Serpent? You can come out now..."
In the next moment, a huge Serpent with Onyx scales and crimson eyes crawled out of her shadow. It was way too large for her room with its 26+ meters in length it had to coil around her room's walls, making a huge mess...
"..." Rain stared it, frozen in fear as she trembled a little.
'T-that's been hiding in my Shadow!? IM DEAD, IM DEAD, OH GODS!!'
Serpent meanwhile tilted its head, giving her a confused look? It was hard to tell, it being a Serpent and all. Then it did something unexpected. It leaned in closer and... hissed a bit as it licked her face. It. Licked. Her. Face.
"Agh... ew." Rain winced a bit but didn't fight back... well, of course she didn't!
Then she put her hand on the Serpent's head, giving it a few pats.
"G-good Serpent... s-such a good Snake you are..."
Serpent seemed pleased... huh. Sunny would have questioned its loyalty had he been here.
*
Eventually, Rain had calmed down and figured out what she had to do. It was simple, really... She had to act as a communication bridge because Sunny was too far away to interact with Serpent. She pulled out a world map, showing it to Serpent as she pointed at NQSC.
(( I always thought of NQSC as being in the same rough location as Chongching or the Yunnan/Sichuan or maybe shaanxi provinces and the like.))
"This is where we are." She dragged her finger down toward the Indochina region and then pulled it across the Indian ocean toward Central Antarctica, Falcon Scott.
"This is where Sunny is. You have to go there, okay? Sunny needs you very fast, Serpent."
Serpent watched silently, then hissed softly in understanding. How did he understand her? No clue, but it seems she got her point across.
Serpent leaned in, pressing its snout softly against her head in a way to say goodbye.
"Gah... y-yeah, I'll miss you too... maybe. Now go, Sunny needs you as fast as possible, Serpent."
Rain patted it one last time before it hissed and then dissolved into the shadows again.
Serpent was now on the way.
Rain sighed, collapsing on her bed...
"You owe... big time, bastard... torturing your dear student like that... I'll make you pay!!"
She looked around her once cozy room... it was a mess. "Damnation..."
*
The water was quite... cold. But at this point, Sunny didn't pay it much attention anymore. He was totally engrossed in taking the shadow form of Deareon. And due to it, he felt an indescribable rage take hold in his soul. Only... he had nowhere to unleash this anger right now. The Winter Beast was still far away... so these aquatic nightmare creatures had to do.
'Damnation... I'll rip these stupid fish apart!' He he roared loudly, making the waters boil and the coast region of Falcon Scott rumble from the intense underwater battles... People were giving the ocean worried glances.
But Saint Bloodwave had assured them that it was just the Devil doing his thing. The reason he decided to enter these infested waters and put himself in danger was still unclear to everyone, tho.
Many theorized that he just hated nightmare creatures that much... and that this was just some sort of therapy for the Mad-man.
[You have slain a Fallen monster: Forsaken depth dweller]
[Your Shadow grows stronger...]
Meanwhile, Sunny had just ripped another fallen rank shark-like creature apart with his fangs. It was getting harder not to lose himself in the rage he felt.
He just wanted to tear the world down and rip apart everything in sight. But he also contradictory tried to stay in control at the same time. It was one thing to know his emotions were hindering him, but it was a whole other thing to keep them in control. 'Lost... from Light... I am... Lost from Light!!'
He was just about to chase a creature down into the abyss of the ocean when he hesitated. It was irrational and foolish to follow the creature into its own territory.
'Fucking hell... i gotta be careful.'
He concentrated on his form as a Sea Serpent. His onyx scales, his fangs, his horns... he was Deareon. His form, his mind, his Will. The water bend around him, helping him move around with agility and finesse.
[You have slain...]
[Your Shadow grows stronger...]
[You have slain...]
[Your Shadow grows stronger...]
*
After a long time, a dark figure emerged out of the water, a large cloud of shadows clinging around him with reverence. His silk robes rejecting the water off of him as if it were lotus. He let out a sigh and pulled back his long and damp hair in a hair band he materialized out of shadows.
Only then did he notice the small crowd that had gathered around the coast... everyone was looking at him as if he was the most interesting... and dangerous thing ever. Their shadows radiated reverence, awe, and fear.
'Don't they have anything better to do?' He chuckled a bit... 'probably not.'
He looked at the soldiers and awakened of clan Night with an arrogant smirk. "Alright then all of you back to your posts. I've had my fun."
With that, he dissolved into the Shadows again, leaving a behind a stunned crowd.
He appeared on the roof of the HQ complex through the shadows and sat down in a meditative position.
'Now it's time for the boring part...'
The 3rd step was shadowing the other's mindset and being.
But the 4th step took it further by shadowing the physical form of the other as well.
The 5th step was about shadowing the others Will, while the 6th step was probably about shadowing the concept a cursed/sacred creature encompassed.
He had to concentrate on his experiences he had gained... regained? As the Sea Serpent. But he already did this once where it took him weeks... so now he'd do it in record time.
He was breathing steadily, focusing on the connections and experiences... until the Spell's voice rudly interrupted him.
[You have slain a Fallen demon: Condemned wanderer.]
[Your Shadow grows stronger...]
'...huh? I didn't kill anything...' then his eyes widened as he felt a small part of essence fill him from the kill. 'Wait... Serpent! Rain actually did it!?'
He let out a breath of relief and happiness. These parts of the plan have worked out. Now he only needed to get the 4th & 5th steps of shadow-dance done and then weave the transcendent Heat memory. Only... it seemed the blizzard had picked up even more.
'Curses... Tyris is already being secretly treated, so the Winter Beast will come for the feast...'
He calmed his mind, focusing on what he had to do now. '14000 Kilometers... if Serpent travels at mach 1 and is uninterrupted... that would be about 20 hours of travel. But if he is interrupted too much, that would be too long...' there was only one way to help Serpent now, and that was mastering the Shadow-Dance and bringing Serpent to the Supreme rank. "Well? Back to work it is..."
So he went and concentrated again, and this time... it didn't take long for a breakthrough.
[Your Aspect Legacy mastery has increased.]
[You have received the right to claim a Legacy Relic.]
[...Your Shadow has evolved.]
"One step done... now one more."