Nephis slowly opened her dry and heavy eyelids. Just forcing them open was a tremendous effort in its own right. She was starting to fully feel the effects of her real body having not moved in two years as she began stretching her stiff and sore muscles.
She looked around the room containing her sleeping pod and she noticed that the entire room was engulfed in flames.
Confused, she blinked a couple times then she looked down and noticed the door to her pod had been turned into molten metal on the floor.
That's when she realized she must have subconsciously activated her new awakened ability once she had awoken. 'Ah, I'm in trouble'.
She was barely able to process all of this before she heard the sound of alarms and sprinklers starting to go off.
As water started to pour down and drench her, she wondered how she was going to get out of this situation.
She wasn't left with her thoughts for long as she saw turrets emerging from the ceiling and taking aim directly at her.
She swiftly summoned the 'Dream Blade' and started sprinting away from the incoming turret barrage.
She let her instincts guide her and take control and blasted a concentrated stream of fire directly at one of the turrets. Not long after it was blasted into pieces, she could faintly hear boots marching towards her as an elevator had arrived on the floor.
She wasn't quite in her right mind having entered a state of battle frenzy partially caused by the searing pain of her flaw as well as she hadn't quite fully awoken yet.
She lunged towards the first group of awakened soldiers to force the turrets to stop firing at her as well as deal with the pesky assailants in one fell swoop.
With one swing of the 'Dream Blade' the first awakened was sent flying back into the two awakened directly behind him.
She didn't give them the opportunity to recover as she sliced through their armors leaving near fatal wounds on all their chests putting them out of the fight.
She summoned more flames to surround her, preparing for the turrets to begin the barrage against her again as another elevator arrived with more guards.
She dashed towards the guards deflecting an artillery shell flying towards her head. She felt her arm being hit with another shell, but she simply gritted her teeth through the pain and started to heal the shattered bone and charred flesh.
She was almost upon the guards when her vision went dark and she could feel the cold surface of a strange material under her bare feet. She wasn't sure what happened, so she instinctively burned everything around her.
Having broken free, she found herself freefalling and prepared to land on the ground only to find herself in a warm embrace.
"Snap out of it Princess."
Nephis was confused, it had been years since anyone had last called her princess and only two people had ever done so.
She looked up and saw the man she had been longing to see for two years now.
She greedily drank in every detail of Sunny's face.
The boy she had met all those years ago at the academy gates was almost unrecognizable.
He still had the same pitch-black eyes that seemed like they contained the void themselves and silky hair of a matching color, but he didn't look anywhere near like the unhealthy outskirts rat she had fallen in love with.
His skin was just as pale as ever but not in an unhealthy way that it had been before. His cheeks were fuller, and his eyes didn't look sunken in. Overall, Sunny looked beautiful like an elegant porcelain doll garbed in fine black silk.
She felt heat rushing towards her cheeks and found that her heart was racing.
Just before she passed out from 'shock', she finally registered the expression on Sunny's face. Why did he look so torn? Like he couldn't decide if he was elated or furious to see her.
That's all she could think of as her vision went dark, and consciousness slipped away from her.
Sunny watched as the light left Nephis' eyes. He gently raised a hand and shut her eyelids when he noticed that she had fallen unconscious.
Holding Neph in his arms, he looked up and saw the Awakened warriors of the security team staring at him in shock from afar.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
"…What are you doing, fools?! Bring me something to cover her up! Don't you know who this is?!"
He shook his head, hiding the fact that he was just as stunned as they were.
"This… this is Lady Changing Star, the last daughter of the Immortal Flame clan. She's back..."
As the security team jumped into action Sunny finally noticed the storm of emotions that had been raging within his heart.
This was bad, very bad. Now that Nephis had awoken Sunny could already feel the chains starting to tighten around him.
Yet despite himself, Sunny couldn't help but feel glad that Nephis and returned alive from the dream realm. This reaction of his scared him even more than her return did.
Why was he feeling this way. Sunny wasn't supposed to feel glad that Nephis was back. He was supposed to be furious that his slaver had returned.
A part of Sunny wanted to be there right when Nephis opened her eyes, but the more logical part of him was screaming that he should just kill her now.
This was his best chance, one that he might not get ever again. She had returned from the dream realm and made the mistake of falling unconscious in the arms of the man that had the most motive in all the worlds to kill her.
Before Sunny could decide upon a course of action the security team had returned with garments to cover Nephis.
Sunny could feel that his opportunity to extinguish the last of the Immortal Flame was quickly escaping him. He tried to steel himself. He knew that he could quickly slay Nephis and then dispatch the entire security team to not leave any witnesses.
He might have done it, gods knew slaying innocent people wasn't beyond Sunny when it came to accomplishing his goals.
Sunny's hand twitched as he was about to summon a weapon, but in the end, he just weakly let his arm fall back down to his side.
Strangely enough he didn't stop himself because he had any qualms about eliminating the innocent security team, rather for a reason that alluded Sunny, he still couldn't bring himself to kill Nephis.
When he had just returned from the Forgotten Shore, he had deluded himself into believing that the only reason he hadn't killed Nephis was that she might not have actually died and could end up as a lost like the mirror wraith Mordret.
His freedom was right in front of him yet somehow it still seemed as impossibly out of reach as ever.
He realized something as he watched the security team take Nephis to the hospital. Even if he could bring himself to kill Nephis, what would it change? Killing Nephis wouldn't actually solve anything and the freedom he so desperately desired could just as easily be stolen yet again.
If he killed Nephis then who's next? Before the news even spread, he would then have to go kill Cassie as she also knew his true name and would no doubt enslave him next shortly after she heard the news. After he killed Cassie then he would have to go kill Kai and Effie. They both knew his flaw and that he had a true name so they could just as easily enslave him by asking one question.
It would never stop at that rate. Killing Nephis would just be a stopgap measure that wouldn't solve the problem in the slightest.
While Sunny was contemplating what he should do, he had already reached the ground floor of the academy. He saw Cassie waiting just at the exit.
Sunny paid her no mind as he walked outside, hands in his pockets, in his own little world deep in thought. His train of thoughts came to an abrupt halt when Cassie called out to him. Her voice was full of barely restrained emotions.
"Sunny where are you going? We need to go see Nephis."
Sunny doubted Cassie would be able to understand the conflicting emotions warring inside him seeing as she appeared to be nothing other than over the moon at the news of her friends' return.
He raised a hand dismissively and coldly said.
"I need some time to process all of this. We'll talk some other time."
A frown made its way onto the Blind Seer's face. Just as he assumed she looked none too pleased that he wasn't planning on visiting Nephis in the hospital, but she dropped the issue as she hurriedly rushed after Nephis herself.
Just as Sunny had reached the academy gates, he heard the sounds of a black PTV pulling up in front of Morgan of Valor.
He certainly didn't want to engage in a conversation with her of all people right now, so he shifted into the shadows trying his best to make his way past her without drawing her attention.
His attempt to go unnoticed was for naught as he heard Morgan's low raspy voice follow him.
"Busy day for you Master Sunless?"
Facing away from her Sunny found himself rolling his eyes. 'Great another nuisance wants to strike up a conversation with me.'
Sunny couldn't find himself able to summon the effort necessary to deal with Morgan and her legacy nonsense so brushed her off saying.
"Words are worthless, silence is gold. Don't waste my breath!"
Morgan frowned as she thought. 'What's his issue today and more importantly I'm sure I've heard those words somewhere.'
He was none the wiser to who he had just quoted and the Princess of Valor's thoughts as he arrived at his house and collapsed into his bed.
Sunny awoke in the early hours of twilight. He pulled out his communicator as he calculated he had slept for just over three hours. 'I've wasted too much time.' Sunny thought as he tried to chase away the drowsiness.
Having slept on it he was finally able to come to a decision.
He was leaving.
If Sunny couldn't bring himself to kill Nephis he would do the next best thing, he'd run. As long as he stayed out of earshot from her, he was effectively free.
He stretched and then moved through his house packing up everything he would need for a long journey into the Covetous Coffer.
He began to lock up his house and made his way for the exit. Still there were a few things he had to take care of before he left the world behind.
Sunny walked down to Rain's house and rang the doorbell. He waited a minute and after not too long Rain answered the door.
He studied her for a second wanting to make sure he remembered what his sister looked like as he wasn't entirely sure he would ever see her again.
Rain coughed and said "Why are you here? Can you please stop staring at me, you're weirding me out."
A faint smile made its way onto Sunny's face.
"Hey brat, I'm gonna be leaving for a while and just wanted to let you know that I was cancelling your tutoring indefinitely."
After hesitating for a few moments, Sunny took a step closer and said
"I taught you as much as I could. The rest depends on you. Keep practicing with your sword. Keep sharpening your mind, as well. Most importantly, keep working on your mentality."
Rain looked at him and nodded seriously.
"I will."
…She did not notice that something strange had happened in the spot where their shadows intersected. A massive, dark silhouette that resembled a stygian serpent flowed from Sunny's shadow, then hid itself in hers.
Sunny had invoked one of Soul Serpent's abilities.
[Grace of Shadows] Ability Description: "The master of the Soul Serpent can grace another with the trust and companionship of their Shadow Guide. One should be careful whom they bestow with their grace; entrusting others with the loyalty of Shadows is the same as sharing one's soul, and thus should not be offered lightly."
He could not give Rain any Memories. Neither could he give her any Echoes. Rain did not possess an Aspect or a soul core to encompass them. She certainly did not possess a shadow core to receive one of his Shadows.
But Serpent was different. [Grace of Shadows] allowed it to accompany anyone who had a shadow, including a mundane human. So, Sunny transferred Serpent to Rain and commanded it to hide itself as well as gave it a few instructions.
It was to not show itself unless any of a couple circumstances happened. Firstly, if Rain was in mortal danger, it would protect her at all costs. Alternatively, if Rain encountered Cassie or Nephis Serpent would immediately reveal itself and kidnap his sister and lead her safely away from them.
With the help of an Ascended Devil, she would be able to survive anything.
Sunny knew that by providing Rain with his handicap, he might have been stunting her own growth. But he did not care. His sister did not have to grow strong, or die. He was more than capable of being strong for the both of them. He also didn't want to pull Rain into the messy world of the awakened or into any of his own problems with his cohort.
Looking at her, he smiled and patted her head while ruffling her hair affectionately. She gave him an indignant look and moved away causing Sunny to chuckle.
"Don't go and die on me brat. You're my only student, after all, so if you suddenly die, my reputation will be ruined. No one will ever hire me as a tutor again!"
Rain glared at him for a moment, then scoffed.
"Why would I die? I'm too smart for that. You however… make sure not to die yourself. I won't be able to brag that my tutor is a Master if you're dead."
Sunny grinned, then waved as he turned away, "Until we meet again Rain."
While Sunny left Rain's house and started walking the streets he pulled out his communicator and dialed a familiar number.
After a while Jet's voice greeted him, "Good to hear back from you Sunny. I hope you're calling to inform me that you're planning on joining the Antarctica campaign."
Sunny wasn't quite sure what she was talking about until he recalled the last conversation he had with Jet where she told him about the chain of nightmares. He suddenly felt a tinge of guilt since he had no plans of helping.
He had been too caught up in his own problems lately to feel like he had any ability to be lending aid to others. Since he was planning of asking a favor of Jet, he decided to that he would have to at least sweeten the deal.
"Sorry, but I haven't thought much about the campaign and have any plans on joining it personally. I need a favor and if you can help me out, I can lend some aid. I have a sister named Rain and if you can guarantee her safety if she suddenly appears at a government facility I'll lend you my strongest shadow."
Jet chuckled "I should have known an outskirts rat would be the type to barter. That can be arranged we have a deal."
Sunny smiled she knew him so well "Happy doing business with you." Sunny canceled the call and stuffed his communicator back into his pocket as he had finally arrived at his destination.
He took a slow breath in of the nostalgic outskirts air. He had not missed the outskirts, but he had a place to visit here before he left. He didn't want to leave any loose ends in the case that he never returned.
It wasn't that he thought he would die, rather he had seen the damage that had been left behind when people never took care of these kinds of things before leaving on dangerous missions.
Sunny composed himself and then exited the street into a small park surrounded by buildings. He turned his gaze and looked at the tree that served as his parents' makeshift grave.
He should be reminiscing and finding the resolve to depart on another dangerous and life-changing mission like he had done before his first nightmare.
Yet when he looked at the tree, he found himself overcome by a scathing fury. Leaning against the truck was dainty blonde girl that he had been wishing he would never see again.
Sunny didn't know why she was here but seeing the person that had betrayed him leaning against his parents' grave infuriated him.
'How does she even know about this place'
She must have had another one of her visions as there was no other way she could know about his parents' grave and that he would be here tonight.
'No wonder why she let me go at the academy so easily.' Sunny despised fate with a burning passion and held an equal if not greater animosity for the seers who peered into its depths, especially this seer in particular.
He didn't know why she insisted on inserting herself into his life, but he was starting to near the end of his patience with his former friend.
'Maybe she keeps following me because of that damned [Fated] attribute.'
Cassie turned her head to greet him. She must have used her awakened ability to sense his approach because Sunny certainly wasn't kind enough to make his steps audible for her.
"What are you doing here Sunny? Why haven't you visited Nephis yet?"
"Why so she can see her two dogs get happy the second she opens her eyes", he replied coldly.
Cassie flinched and asked "Sunny what are you talking about, Nephis isn't like that, besides don't you think it's about time you told me why you hate me with such a burning passion? I knew you were petty Sunny but for the love of the gods it's been two years why haven't you gotten over it?!"
Sunny chuckled, "Well why not, I don't plan on seeing any of you ever again, so it'll do me no harm in telling you. I have an Innate Ability called "Shadow Bond" that makes me the slave of whoever first speaks my true name giving them the power to overwrite my freewill with any order."
Cassie recoiled, she knew that Sunny's weakness had to have been bad seeing how much he hated her, but she didn't think it would be that crippling.
"Now do you see why I despise you so. Evidently you weren't satisfied with being alone as Nephis' dog, you insisted that I had to join you.", Sunny spat his voice filled with contempt and barely restrained rage.
Tears started welling up in Cassie's lightless eyes as her blindfold quickly became soaked, "S…Sunny I - I'm sorry."
Sunny sighed, it felt good to finally get that off his chest for some reason. He began walking away and said "Now get out of my sight. You're lucky that I'm not nearly as petty as I always claim or you would have been dead the second that I returned from the Forgotten Shore. You should thank me really, for giving you a reason to be thankful for your Flaw as I'm not sure how you would be able to live with yourself when you look in the mirror every morning." He said with venom practically dripping from his voice.
His words echoed throughout the courtyard as he disappeared into the shadows.