Fate's Slave - Shadow Slave X Honkai Star Rail

Sunny appeared in the Sanctuary of Noctis, having slept in the Astral Express. Once he woke up, they would leave the Herta Space Station, exploring a completely different location.

He sighed, looking around the Citadel of the Chained Isles. As he walked away from the gateway, he could see other Awakened looking at him in reverence and awe. It was slightly awkward, considering that he obviously couldn’t recall the feats he had performed, but he ignored them.

It seemed that the Chained Isles was more crowded at this time. Day and night cycles were different for each planet, but humans couldn’t change their sleep cycles...

Well, technology has advanced enough so that they could, but it would only introduce more problems. People would be sleeping for weeks or months on end, which would disrupt relations and trade between planets.

Due to this, it was universally agreed on that people would follow twenty-four hour schedules for sleeping and other matters. This way, there wouldn’t be times where an entire portion of a civilization would be asleep for long periods of time, while another portion would be awake for just as long.

It was especially convenient when it came to the Nightmare Spell, as it meant that Awakened would generally arrive in the Dream Realm at around the same time, never leaving the Dream Realm relatively empty for stretches of time. Masters and Saints were exceptions to this, as they would be able to enter the Dream Realm without sleeping, and would be able to sleep without entering the Dream Realm.

As Sunny walked through the stone pathways of the Sanctuary of Noctis, he would often be greeted by some Awakened. He wasn’t sure what would be more natural in this situation, so he just awkwardly waved at whomever was talking to him. It seemed to work, which caused Sunny to question if he had reached such a point in popularity that anything he does would be considered natural.

Forgetting such thoughts, Sunny thought back to what had occurred before he went to sleep...

***

”Huh? What do you mean he’s staying in my room?”

Sunny had a smug expression on his face, sneaking glances at the extremely comfortable windowsill in March’s room.

Himeko sighed.

”He won’t actually be sleeping in there. Your room doesn’t have enough space for another sleeping pod. It’ll just be a place where he could stay.”

March seemed to be going through quite the onslaught of emotions. Sunny could see embarrassment, disgust, confusion, and anger.

”Dan Heng’s room is right there! Wouldn’t it make more sense to share a room with another boy instead of me, a defenseless maiden?!”

Sunny gasped, as if he was scandalized by what she had said.

”How rude! I just thought you had a nice windowsill, so don’t flatter yourself.”

March’s face scrunched up in displeasure. It seemed that she really didn’t like this arrangement.

It’s not his fault that he didn’t have a room! And there was no way in hell that he was going to stay in Dan Heng’s messy room! Unlike Dan Heng, he wasn’t willing to live inside a data room!

’Really, this is just the lesser evil.’

Himeko sighed once more.

”It’s fine. I’ll just let him stay in my room.”

Sunny and March stared at Himeko for a moment with blank expressions. They turned towards each other, an intense conversation occurring between the two with nothing but their eyes. Himeko took a step back, not feeling very comfortable with the sudden change in demeanor.

March was the first one to speak after the silent exchange.

”Don’t get any weird ideas.”

Sunny shrugged.

”I get weird ideas all the time. You might have to be more specific...”

March scowled, before grabbing Sunny’s wrist as she dragged him into her room. Once he was in, she closed the door behind her.

Himeko blinked, wondering what had exactly happened. As she thought back to the conversation, she realized that maybe putting the two of them in the same room, albeit temporarily, might have been a bad idea.

That idea cemented itself as she heard the rustling of sheets and blunt sounds inside.

”...Maybe I should have thought about the number of rooms we have before inviting someone else.”

She didn’t think March was the type to...

On second thought, maybe it was best to not think about it.

***

With a teddy bear in hand, Sunny ducked under the fists that threatened to rip open his spine. He smirked as he weaved through the attacks that were thrown against him.

”I already told you... this guy is mine!”

With a step back, Sunny got on his hands to perform a hand spring. At the same time, he quickly slipped off his shoes in a feat of extraordinary dexterity. He wasn’t even sure how it was possible, but he made it possible.

Pushing himself off his hands, he masterfully landed on March’s bed, a devious expression on his face.

”Actually, why don’t I take your bed as well?”

March glared at him, cracking her knuckles as her eyes shone with grim determination.

”Sir Snuggles is mines! And get off my bed you barbarian!”

Sunny held up the teddy bear, now known as Sir Snuggles. He rubbed his hands all over it, as if he was getting a feel for it. He nodded to himself, before looking down at March with a mocking expression.

”I don’t think you’ll be getting Sir Snuggles back. His fearsome nature is meant for... higher purposes.”

Sunny looked at the menacing figure of the teddy bear. He wondered how many souls were sacrificed to create such an entity.

March clenched her jaw.

”You...! Sir Snuggles isn’t fearsome, he’s cute!”

Sunny looked between March and the teddy bear within his hands. He couldn’t quite see what was so cute about it. In fact, he’d say that Saint was much cuter than this horrific beast.

Sunny wondered if there was a way to convert Sir Snuggles into a shadow, despite being a literal object. He was sure that chaos itself would bend to his will with such a beast under his command.

”March, did you hit your head somewhere as a child?”

With that, she lunged forward, grabbing onto Sunny. His eyes widened, as the speed she had moved was quite unnatural for the average Awakened.

’Did she cool herself internally so that I wouldn’t notice?’

Sunny’s head crashed against the floor, with March attempting to grasp the stuffed toy. Raising his hands so that she couldn’t reach it, Sunny tried to roll out of her grasp.

However, March pressed him down against the floor, leaving him no way to escape without augmenting himself with his shadows. He couldn’t use Shadow Step either since he was in contact with a living being. He could only carry inanimate objects with him while using Shadow Step, and if he was touching another person, he simply couldn’t use it.

March stretched her hand towards Sir Snuggles with a grin on her face. Sunny’s face froze for a second, before he called out to her.

”Wai—”

Sunny felt a soft sensation press against his face. His face immediately turned red, as he was already aware of what the two orbs that kept his face against the floor were. In his disoriented state, he let go of the teddy bear.

March sat up, with Sir Snuggles in her hands. She smirked as she crossed her arms, hugging the teddy bear to her chest. She looked down at Sunny, who’s pale face was strangely flushed. She wasn’t sure if it was because he was embarrassed, or if it was due to physical exertion, but she reveled in her victory.

Sunny raised his arms, causing March to instinctively pull her stuffed toy away. However, instead of attempting to steal it away from her, he instead lightly pushed against her shoulders. She looked down at him, seeing him turned towards the side as he avoided eye contact.

”...Get off.”

March blinked, before doing just as he said. She took a few steps back in case he wanted to try to take Sir Snuggles from her again. Instead, he just got up and walked towards the windowsill. He laid on his side as he aimlessly stared out at the supply zone of the Herta Space Station.

Although she wasn’t sure what caused this change of behavior, she was glad that Sir Snuggles wasn’t at risk of being stolen anymore. Now that things had calmed down, she had remembered something she was supposed to do.

She walked over to her desk, picking up Sunny’s repaired phone. She walked over to him, causing him to turn around like he had eyes on the back of his head. His face was still slightly red, and he didn’t quite meet her eyes. Once he saw the phone in her hand, his golden eyes lit up, completely distracted from what was previously bothering him.

”The damage wasn’t too bad. None of the data on it was lost.”

Sunny nodded, mumbling a quick thanks as he took the phone out of her hand. Despite never having seen a phone before, he felt that he was quite familiar with using it. He glanced at March as she walked back to her bed, before putting all his attention on his phone.

He clicked the switch on the side of his phone, watching as it booted up. He saw a large catalog of squares on his screen. He narrowed his eyes, clicking on one. The screen changed, showing him some sort of... game?

’Oh. These are apps, right?’

Sunny barely remembered how phones worked.

Sunny exited the app. As he looked around the home screen of his phone, he realized that there were names under the apps that designated what they were.

With that, Sunny didn’t have any more issues. Although he couldn’t quite use the apps, he was able to go through some of the basic functions of them. He didn’t find anything very worthwhile, as most of them were simply games or ways to buy food remotely.

As he was looking through his phone, he found his photos. When he opened the app, the screen was mostly blank, showing that he hadn’t took many photos.

He looked towards March, who was staring at him with narrowed eyes as she covered her face with a book in her hands.

’Where did she even get that?’

”You’re reading it upside-down.”

March blinked, glancing at the book in her hands. She frantically flipped it back to a normal position.

”...I knew that.”

’Sure...’

Getting off the cushioned windowsill, he walked towards the door of the room. March’s eyes trailed the path he took, before she asked:

”Where are you going?”

Sunny shrugged.

”Just looking around.”

He exited the room, heading to a different compartment of the Astral Express.

The Party Car gleamed like a grand ballroom, centered around a glowing cylindrical light. Plush violet booths lined the walls, surrounded by lush greenery and vast windows revealing a star-filled sky. Warm lights traced the dark ceiling.

Sunny stared at a spiral staircase to his left, before continuing onwards to the next cart.

As he looked around, he saw multiple tools and appliances that he assumed would be used for cooking. With this information, he deduced that this was the kitchen.

He walked to the door on the other side of the compartment, entering another, seperate compartment. This one consisted of a small pit that contained a ground made of dirt. He saw racks that carried blunt reinforced weapons, designed to be able to withstand the strength of an Awakened, or even a Master. On the walls were multiple sleeping pods. He also noticed a few that looked somewhat different, as if they needed to be bigger for more mechanisms.

It only made sense for the Astral Express to have a training room, since besides Sunny himself, there were two other Awakened.

Sunny paused. Shouldn’t Mr. Yang also be an Awakened? Considering the capabilities that were shown when he had calmed down the Stellaron, he’d guess that he was a Saint.

Yet, for some strange reason, that thought didn’t exactly sound right. He didn’t feel the presence of a Saint. In fact, he couldn’t feel even the slightest presence of one who was even an Awakened.

Sunny’s intuition was telling him that there was something off about Mr. Yang, as if he was a foreign entity. However, he couldn’t quite place his finger on why that would be the case.

Sunny walked into the next compartment, filing away this information for later. He was somewhat suspicious of Welt, but there wasn’t much he could do about it at this point. It wouldn’t be a good idea to act hastily.

Sunny’s eyes widened in awe as he looked around this compartment. The ceiling and walls were completely clear with clean glass windows, and the floor was covered in grass. There were plenty of plant species around this compartment, giving a verdant, natural atmosphere.

The plants had tags near them — which denoted what they were called and what planet they originated from.

Since they were still in the space station, Sunny could only see the supply zone from here. However, he was willing to bet that the view was quite a spectacle in the vastness of space.

As he walked through the train, he realized that it’s size is quite unreasonable. At this point, he’d think that it shouldn’t even be possible to fit it into a space station.

’It even had multiple full-sized bathhouses!’

After thoroughly exploring the Astral Express, Sunny went back to scouring his phone. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find anything that could give him any hints about what had occurred within the past four years. He couldn’t even find a single picture.

’A... picture?’

Sunny felt like he was forgetting something, yet he couldn’t figure out what it was. It seemingly had to do with pictures, but he wasn’t exactly sure why.

Shaking his head, he looked at the time on his phone. It was starting to get late, and he was starting to feel somewhat sleepy.

Since he was an Awakened, he would go to the Dream Realm whenever he slept. Although he could just go to March’s room and sleep on the windowsill, anything could happen while he’s in the Dream Realm. If he couldn’t return in a day or two, his physical body would have to face the consequences.

Due to this, sleeping pods were manufactured for the sole purpose of sustaining an Awakened’s real body. They provide nutrition, keep the body clean, and some other features that Sunny wasn’t prone to.

Sunny walked back into the training room, walking over to the sleeping pods. He went to the ones that he recognized, as he wasn’t quite certain what the purpose of the other pods were, with their added machinery and such.

He summoned the Puppeteer’s Shroud, while dismissing the Finality’s Farewell. Covered in the silky armor, he opened up one of the pods. He stepped in, waiting for himself to fall asleep. It wasn’t too hard, since he could pull on his metaphysical connection to the Dream Realm to accelerate the process.

Once he fell asleep, he felt liquid start to fill up the pod. The next moment, he felt himself being whisked away to another world...

***

Shadow Fragments: [1968/2000].

Sunny grinned as he checked his Shadow Fragments. He was extremely close to saturating his second Shadow Core and forming a third one. All he had to do was hunt a few Nightmare Creatures, and he’d become an Awakened Demon.

He was traveling across the islands in the form of a shadow, moving with incredible speed as he looked for suitable prey.

After around ten minutes of searching, he found himself an enemy to kill. If his memory served him correctly, it looked similar to what was called a boar.

Except... Sunny didn’t think boars had six eyes, and tusks that were larger than their body.

Sunny stepped out of the shadows, watching as the boar sprinted across the island. It was quite large, being able to easily take up the area of March’s room. From this distance, he could tell that the boar had an evil intelligence, based on how it killed another Nightmare Creature it was chasing by cornering it to a wall.

If Sunny were to take a guess, he’d say that it was at least a Fallen Demon — which meant that he would be able to get six Shadow Fragments minimum.

Sunny narrowed his eyes as the Nightmare Creature started to move irregularly. It seemed to have found another target. Sunny followed the Fallen Demon’s line of sight, seeing a small figure.

He couldn’t quite see what it was from here, so he sent out his shadows to get a better view. In particular, he sent out the Haughty shadow, who crossed his arms in displeasure at being used for such lowly tasks.

’Oh, shut up! You should be grateful to even be the a divine shadow’s... uh... shadow.’

With a scoff, Haughty zoomed across the plains of the island, heading towards the boar and it’s new prey. Sunny sat down, drinking from the Endless Spring as he watched what was happening.

He spat out some water, spraying it all over the gloomy shadow who looked at him with hatred.

Standing across from the boar was a girl. She had messy purple hair that reached her midsection. Her pale skin was caked in dirt, showing that she had been in the wilderness for a while. She didn’t hold a weapon in her bloody hands, nor did she wear a single article of clothing. She was standing stark naked in the middle of an island infested with Nightmare Creatures.

Without any equipment to brave the Dream Realm, Sunny made an assumption about her situation.

’She’s a Sleeper, isn’t she? The Winter Solstice is in a month... so has she been stuck out here for almost a year?’

After completing the First Nightmare, all Sleepers would be sent to the Dream Realm on the Winter Solstice — which just so happened to be Sunny’s birthday. They would be sent to random locations, with the goal of reaching a gateway in order to escape to the Waking World.

However, there are those who didn’t get any weapons or armor from their First Nightmare. In such a scenario, they are at a severe disadvantage when being thrown in this unforgiving wilderness.

’Should I save her?’

Sunny didn’t have much of a reason to do so, but he did want to kill the boar for Shadow Fragments. If the girl followed him back to the Sanctuary of Noctis, then it wouldn’t be like he had tried to help or anything, right?

Sunny nodded to himself, believing his logic sound. He wasn’t helping her, it was all for his own gain.

As he was about to use Shadow Step to reach the Fallen Demon, he paused.

Sunny was looking through the eyes of his shadow, who had gotten close enough to see the details of the girl’s face. In such a situation, he’d expect to see fear, panic, or any other emotion that is to be expected when facing an unbeatable monster. If she was a Sleeper, she’d stand no chance against the boar.

Sunny shivered. The girl wasn’t quivering in fear, attempting to run away, or anything similar.

Instead, she was smiling with a crazed expression, crimson eyes glowing as she stared at the the boar.

For a moment, Sunny questioned whether or not she was sane, or if she was overestimating herself with the belief that she was a protagonist of some sort. He wondered if she believed herself to be invincible, and that this was simply a fun game to her.

However, as Sunny saw the look in her glowing eyes through his shadow, he realized that wasn’t the case.

She was just like him, a being with a gift for murder.

He watched with interest, wondering if he was right in his estimation. If she died in this encounter, than it would prove that she was simply delusional. If not, then it would show she had inhumane potential. Potential that might even match Sunny’s own.

He reasoned that if she lost, then it was her fault for fighting a battle she couldn’t win. It wouldn’t be any skin off his back...

Sunny ignored the creeping feeling of disgust, as he resolved himself to just watch.

The boar, approached the girl slowly, watching her every move with it’s six eyes. Sunny noticed that it didn’t have any pupils, but it was somehow still able to see.

The purple-haired girl stepped forward the bloodthirsty grin on her face never fading. She held her hand out to her side with her pointer finger extended. It was a strange position for one who was going into a fight, but Sunny guessed that it must have been related to her Aspect. She would only have a Dormant Ability as a Sleeper, so Sunny wasn’t quite sure how effective she would be against a Fallen Demon.

The boar dragged it’s feet across the floor, preparing itself to charge at the girl. It dashed forward, causing tremors to spread across the island every time it’s hoofs made contact with the ground.

The girl kept walking forward at a leisurely pace, not worried whatsoever about the hulking monstrosity bulldozing towards her. She simply held out her pointer finger, waiting for it to reach her.

Once it was within range, the boar dragged it’s oversized tusks across the ground, uprooted the dirt of the island. The girl dashed forward, not hesitating for a second with that manic smile on her face.

She lightly stepped to the side, extending her finger in the direction that she had just dashed away from. The tusks rose into the sky, barely missing her. However, Sunny would have thought that her finger would have been within it’s path.

His eyes widened as an object flew into the sky. He at first thought that it was her arm, but the object was much too large for that. As it fell back to the island, it impaled itself into the dirt.

It was the boar’s tusk.

The boar let out a horrific screech, as the girl’s finger was still extended where the tusk got detached. Without waiting, she dashed forward, swiping her finger across the boar’s skin.

Sunny was bewildered as he saw the flesh of the boar split opened where her finger traced, blood spraying all over the girl. Butterflies appeared out of nowhere, spawning out of the damaged area.

’Her Aspect... does it allow her to bypass defense? Does it give her body the properties of a sword?’

As Sunny watched, he realized that neither of those guesses were correct. If it were the case, she would simply keep attacking until it was dead. Instead, she searched the body of boar, and once she found a random point, she’d aim for it with her fingers.

’Does it allow her to see weak points? But the damage is too exaggerated...’

She didn’t seem to target specifically vital points, so it must have been a limitation of her Aspect. He wondered if she was only limited to using her fingers.

She fought with movements that spoke of experience, as if she had been fighting her whole life. Eventually, the boar was starting to get overwhelmed by the deep wounds being inflicted on it.

As the boar started to get immobilized, she jabbed her foot into open flesh, using it as a foothold to climb up the boar’s back. Once she got to the top, her crimson eyes scanned it’s back, before she drew a line with her finger.

It’s back split open, revealing it’s spine. She drew another line, this time on it’s vertebrae. It cut cleanly open, severing it’s spine as it finally died.

Sunny tilted his head in curiosity, as the girl had caught his interest. She seemed to enjoy killing, while also having the skill to do so against stronger opponents. Sunny wasn’t planning to interact with her much outside of allowing her to come with him to the Sanctuary of Noctis, as he was only somewhat curious about her behavior in the face of a Fallen Demon.

He shrugged to himself, about to Shadow Step over to her location. Just as he was about to do so, he saw her turn her head.

...In the direction of his shadow.

Sunny paused, watching as her mad smile split across her face. She opened her mouth slightly, whispering a few soft syllables that caused a pit to form in his stomach.

”...I’ve never killed a shadow before.”

Sunny wondered what she had meant by that. Did she truly have the means to target his shadow?

Sunny’s eyes widened as he realized something about her fight against the boar. Every time it got attacked, it seemed to be damaged deeper than the wounds that were inflicted on it indicated.

’You can’t be serious... It’s just a Dormant Ability!’

Her attacks targeted the soul.

She walked towards Haughty, her pointer fingers extended as she emanated a violent pressure. The usually arrogant shadow was uncharacteristically tense, as it faced off an enemy that Sunny could only describe in one word...

DEATH.

***

Seele(?) approached the strange shadow. It existed without an object casting it, and it was in the shape of a human. The strangest part of it was the fact that it had a Soul Core — well it looked different than any other soul core she has seen. It was a black orb, which she guessed was due to the fact that it was a shadow.

It didn’t matter, Seele(?) wanted to kill it. She wanted to kill it so badly.

She stared at the crimson lines spreading across the shadow, wondering if tracing them like normal would work. It wasn’t a physical object, so it might follow different rules.

Seele(?) licked her lips, her glowing eyes revealing to her the best way to kill something. She was born the moment the other version of her had woke up from that dream of her’s, taking over whenever she used this ability. She was a strange existence, since her memories were seperate from the other her.

She walked towards the shadow, wondering if it would get scared and run away. Maybe it would get cocky, and simply sit there with the belief that she couldn’t touch it. Either way, she was going to make sure it died.

As she giggled to herself at her morbid thoughts, she froze as a boy emerged from the shadow. He had hair that looked like ash, and golden eyes. He seemed... young, with a few effeminate features. He wore a light set of armor that wrapped around him like a cocoon, and he had an annoyed expression on his face.

Despite how harmless the boy seemed, Seele(?) froze. The crimson lines across his body were plentiful and bright, and the stench of death reeked from him. His soul seemed to stretch towards the two shadows that followed him.

’Two Cores?’

”You’re a little freak of nature, aren’t you?”

Despite what she was thinking, Seele(?) wasn’t the one who had said that. Instead, the boy in front of her was the one who seemingly insulted her. She cracked her fingers, getting ready to dismantle him into seventeen pieces.

”I wouldn’t try that. Otherwise, I’ll have to cut off those pretty fingers of yours.”

She instinctively flinched, stepping back as her survival instincts kicked in. Something was telling her... that he could have killed her by now if he really wanted to.

The boy put his hands on his hips, looking her up and down. She noticed his eyes lingering on her chest for some reason, with his face reddening somewhat. He averted his gaze, causing Seele(?) to look down at her own chest.

She didn’t think there was anything interesting about it, which only caused her to grow more confused. The boy coughed, drawing her attention back to him. At this point, her eyes started to strain, causing a headache to pierce her skull.

”What’s your name?”

Seele(?) wondered what she should tell him. She didn’t exactly have a name, since she was born as a Flaw. However, it was currently her body, so she should at least tell him the body’s name.

...Despite the urge to kill him, she didn’t want to get killed herself.

”...This body’s name is Seele.”

The boy in front of her narrowed his eyes, his hand grasping a weapon that wasn’t even there. Seele(?) took another step back in order to play it safe.

”...Is this originally your body?”

Seele(?) bit her lip. It seemed that she had let slip that she thought of Seele and herself as seperate individuals. It seemed that the boy was quite sharp when it comes to such matters.

She wondered if she should lie or not. The boy was already suspicious of her, and she wasn’t sure that she could defeat him if he decided to fight her. Despite the fact that his soul seemed weaker than the boar, it radiated some strange, radiant quality to it.

Not only that, but his presence felt much more lethal than the boar.

Seele(?) decided to answer his question truthfully.

”...I am the girl’s Flaw.”

The boy blinked, narrowing his eyes at her as he obviously didn’t understand what she was getting at.

”I was born when she woke up from a dream. I take over her body when she uses her eyes.”

Despite how vague her words were, the boy seemed to perfectly understand what she meant after a moment. She wondered if he had encountered something similar...

”Would your eyes still be active if you slept?”

Seele(?) tilted her head, not understanding the purpose of the question. She still answered it however, since she didn’t want to take any risks.

The boy grinned. Seele(?) saw a large shadow appear in front of her, causing her to want to look behind her. However, she couldn’t take her eyes off the boy, who’s eyes changed from a golden hue to a lightless abyss. Those eyes seemed to embrace death, becoming one with it.

Seele(?) was absolutely enamored with it.

”I guess it’s goodnight then, you psycho.”

Feeling something strike the top of her head, the red lines disappeared as everything went black.

***

Sunny covered the girl with the Finality’s Farewell. He zipped up the jacket, making sure that it properly covered her body. The jacket reached Sunny’s knees, and the girl was slightly shorter than him, so he didn’t have to worry too much about something getting exposed.

He picked her up, carrying her on his back as her head rested on his shoulder. He thought back to the encounter, somewhat confused by how the girl — Seele’s Flaw interacted with him.

When he had stepped out of the shadows, she seemed to almost fear something. Maybe she had seen his two shadow cores, but he doubted that would be enough to scare her. At the end however, she seemed to be in... awe?

Sunny wasn’t quite sure how to describe it, but his intuition was telling him that it would definitely be a problem later on.

’Actually, I don’t plan on meeting her again once I get her to the gate. There’s no way that she’d cause issues for me!’

After around an hour of walking, he had arrived at the Sanctuary of Noctis. Due to the added weight on his back, it took quite awhile for him to to get back. Which also meant that he lost precious time to get more Shadow Fragments.

He saw some people looking in his direction with strange expressions. Sunny scowled at them, causing them to frantically turn away. He overheard some of them talking with each other...

”Did you see that! The Starkiller is so noble that he’d rescue a girl even if it inconveniences him!”

”I’m not blind you idiot!”

Sunny’s brow twitched. He wasn’t noble or anything! This was for his own gain!

Sunny paused. What exactly did he gain out of this?

He couldn’t think of anything. It seemed that he had wasted his time carrying this girl to the citadel.

...Well, he was already so close to the gateway, so he might as well finish what he started.

Just as he was about to reach the pedestal that held a knife — the gateway of the Sanctuary of Noctis — he felt the winds around him pick up. He looked up, his eyes widening in shock.

Pun intended.

A giant bird of prey, her feathers white, her sharp beak and devastating talons forged out of lustrous, polished steel. Her enormous wings were wreathed in thunderclouds, and bolts of lightning danced around her body like a radiant mantle.

Just as the bird was about to land right on top of him, the bird transformed in a flash of lightning. Now, in the place of the fearsome bird, was a woman.

She was tall and slender, her posture straight like an arrow. She was wearing light steel armor, its pauldrons, and greaves decorated with white feathers. Her long blond hair was fluttering in the wind like a cascade of pale gold. She has amber eyes, and her face was cold and stunningly beautiful, more akin to a goddess than a human being.

Sunny gulped, seeing her eyes staring straight at him.

This was Saint Tyris — also known by her True Name, Sky Tide — the Saint of of the Chained Isles.

”Awakened Sunless.”

Sunny quickly got a hold of himself, bowing as much as he can while bearing the weight of another person.

”...Lady Sky Tide.”

Her gaze went to the girl resting on his back. Sunny tried his best to ignore the drool dripping down on his shoulder. Saint Tyris looked back towards Sunny.

”I had recieved a report that there was a strange girl roaming the Chained Isles. I didn’t recognize her description, so I thought she must have been a Sleeper.”

She glanced back at the Seele’s sleeping body.

”...But it seems you beat me to it.”

Sunny gulped again. Herta was more down to earth, so he hadn’t been as intimidated by her as he was with Tyris. The Saint of the Chained Isles didn’t feel very human.

”Ah... I just happened to run into her. She was passed out when I got her.”

Sunny didn’t divulge the fact that he had knocked her out. He didn’t want to say anything that could cause a Saint to turn against him for whatever reason — even if it was unlikely.

Tyris nodded, turning away as she leaped into the sky with monstrous strength. He watched as lightning streaked through the air, her body transforming into that of a bird once more.

Sunny wondered what the purpose of that conversation was. He doubted that it was simple small talk, but who knew? He couldn’t decipher anything from her emotionless expression.

He sighed, walking forward a few steps before reaching the gateway. Once he got close, he felt the body on his back start to slowly fade away, particles flying through the sky.

In a few seconds, she was gone, having Awakened after escaping the Dream Realm.

The Finality’s Farewell fell onto the floor, not having a body to hold onto. Sunny dismissed it, turning away from the gate. He didn’t disappear with her since he hadn’t reached the minimum time limit needed for him to leave.

Sunny sighed, wondering if his actions were going to bring unforetold consequences. Knowing his luck, he wouldn’t be surprised if he somehow made a great mistake in letting out someone as dangerous as that girl.

Somehow, Sunny felt like he had done the right thing...

...Whatever that means.

***

Sunny walked across a chain connecting the previous island to the next, carrying some... luggage on his back. Luggage that begged to come with him when he was leaving the Sanctuary.

Maybe that was an exaggeration.

It was starting to become night, painting the sky in hues of pink and orange.

”So... you met a crazy girl and you decided to save her?”

Sunny scowled at the girl that was hitching a ride on his back. Why was he giving out so many rides today?

’I’m a divine shadow... that has been demoted to a rickshaw!’

Sunny grumbled at his strange life. The only reason he even played along with her was because he didn’t want to seem suspiciously different from the Sunny that she previously knew.

”I didn’t save her. I just... took her to the gate so I’d never have to see her again.”

Sunny felt Sparkle press her chin against the back of his head. He was starting to get really annoyed with how cozy this brat was getting with him. Who was she to act like they were close friends?

”If you left her to die, you would have achieved the same result. Better yet, you don’t have to worry about her deciding to come back here.”

Sunny scoffed. The thought of her returning here was ridiculous when she could simply stay at another Citadel like Bastion.

”What exactly makes you think any reasonable person would want to come back here?”

”Because you’re here.”

Sunny blinked, looking back at Sparkle. He couldn’t quite see her due to her position, but he could use his shadow to see her face. She had that same unserious look on her face, which caused Sunny to assume that she was joking.

”That wasn’t a good joke.”

”I’m being serious, you know~”

”You don’t sound very serious.”

For the first time, Sunny heard a sigh from Sparkle. Her arms that were previously wrapped around his neck moved up to the top of his head. She started to move them around roughly, ruffling his hair and causing him to almost lose his balance.

”Wha— we’re on a chain here!”

”If you don’t want to fall, just let go of me.”

Sparkle spoke in a calm voice, devoid of any humor. This contrast startled Sunny, who gripped her thighs tighter so she didn’t try anything stupid.

She suddenly stopped rubbing his head, leaving her hands on top of it. Instead of the violent digging, she gently brushed her hands through his hair, getting it back to how it usually was.

”Let’s play a game. If you answer three questions wrong, you lose.”

Sunny blinked, he wondered where she was going with this after almost getting the two of them killed.

”How old am I?”

”...You’re nineteen. Do we really have to play?”

”Yep!”

Instead of answering him, she replied with another question.

”What is the name of my Aspect?”

Sunny frowned. He knew her age due to the Vessel of Remembrance, and the same went for her Aspect. She seemed to share a lot with him in the past, but he didn’t think that he would have told her just as much.

He still didn’t understand why she was asking this.

”...It’s called The Fool.”

”Bingo!”

Sunny felt a strange feeling of unease at her actions. He didn’t feel like he was in danger, but he didn’t feel completely safe either.

”And what’s my Flaw?”

Sunny stopped breathing for a second, wondering if she was aware of the fact that he knew what it was.

”...You’re always at risk of succumbing to Elation.”

”Exactly~”

Suddenly, the entire vibe started to change. Sunny didn’t think she was mad for knowing her Flaw, but it wasn’t like he could predict her actions. He tensed up, waiting for what she was going to do next.

”Now, what brings me the most Elation?”

Sunny blinked. He... wasn’t sure, but he knew some of her likes and dislikes, so he could take a guess.

”Pranking people... maybe?”

”You should study more, Shadow Boy~”

It seemed that he was wrong about that, but there was no way he would know that. He doubted she knew what brought him the most joy.

”Let’s make it a little spicy... who do I love the most?”

That one was actually pretty simple. She didn’t make it much of a secret.

”It’s Aha, right?”

The Aeon of Elation, who Sparkle practically worshipped. Sunny knew she didn’t have any relatives — none that she remembered at least. Due to this, he could only come to one logical conclusion.

”You’re so stupid Shadow Boy! That wasn’t the right answer.”

”Huh?”

Sunny was pretty confident about his answer, so how come he was wrong?

”If it’s not Aha, then who is it?”

Sparkle completely ignored his question giving him another one.

”Sunny, what is my real name?”

Sunny stumbled, almost dropping Sparkle as he did so. Her voice was inflectionless, showing that she wasn’t playing around anymore.

It looks like his luck had run out. His Flaw compelled him to answer truthfully.

”...I don’t know.”

There was a long pause. The two of them stood their, the sunset illuminating their bodies. They couldn’t see each other’s faces, and Sunny didn’t try to use his shadow to do otherwise.

He heard a soft whisper behind him.

”You’re seventeen years old, and you were born on December 21st during the Winter Solstice. It just so happened that you were born under a solar eclipse, making you [Fated].”

Sunny didn’t understand why she was rambling about him, but he didn’t interrupt her.

”Your Aspect is called Shadow Slave, and is of the Divine Rank. You got it from a glorious appraisal after killing an Awakened Tyrant in your First Nightmare.”

Sunny flinched at her words. He didn’t think his past self would have told her that...

...Would he?

”The thing that brings you the most joy is your sister. The one who you love the most is... also your sister.”

She seemed to want to say something else, but Sunny wasn’t bothering himself with that.

’Isn’t that kind of personal?! You can’t go around telling people this stuff, me!’

”Your Flaw is that you can’t lie.”

Sunny felt his heart stop for a moment.

”Whoever says your True Name becomes your master, taking away your freedom.”

The veins in Sunny’s eyes started to become apparent as they became bloodshot. A bead of sweat started to roll down his temple.

’...She can’t know that, right?’

Even if he had told her all this, unlikely as it is, it’s impossible that he would have given her his True Name. There isn’t a single person in the world he’d ever tell that to.

Dark thoughts entered his mind.

”Your True Name is...”

’No...’

Sunny felt an icy claw grip his heart, massaging it as it prepared to crush it in a single move.

”...Lost From Light.”

A second later, Sunny watched as she fell into the Sky Below. His eyes reflected nothing but rage and fear, as Sparkle gazed blankly at him as she slowly grew smaller.

’...Why couldn’t you just keep pretending? Isn’t that what a Clown is good at? Then, none of this would have happened.’

Sunny reasoned that it was for his own good. Once the issue with AR-26710 was solved, he wouldn’t have to worry about another person trying to enslave him. However, as he watched her figure grow smaller, he felt a voice in the back of his head scream at him.

It sounded suspiciously like his own.

Sunny looked down at Sparkle’s falling body for a second, before turning back towards the Samctuary of Noctis. He wasn’t in the mood for fighting Nightmare Creatures any longer.

She had suspected that he had lost his memories, and questioned him in order to make sure. If it had ended at that, Sunny wouldn’t have went as far as to throw her into the Sky Below. Once she revealed that she knew his weaknesses, he knew that he couldn’t let her live.

[Are you an idiot?!]

Sunny paused for a moment, wondering where that voice had come from. It didn’t seem to have come from his subconscious, so where...

[Don’t think about it too much. Anyways, you made a big mistake, you dumbass. I thought I made bad decisions, but at least I had the perfect ability to fix them.]

Sunny frowned. Was he making up voices now?

[I’m not made up! I’m... whatever. It doesn’t matter what I am. What matters is that I’m talking to you!]

’...Who are you to judge me?’

[I’m the only person who can judge you, so just let me talk, got it?]

Was he really going to listen to the voice in his head after committing homicide?

[Of course you are. You’ve done this before, you know, and it’s way worse now than it was before.]

Sunny could have sworn that the voice in his head shivered, despite not having a physical body.

[Oh right, you don’t remember. Anyways, we need to have a long talk, young man.]

Sunny sneered as he stared up at the sky above.

’...You’re not my dad.’

[Of course not, he’s dead! Back to business, did you feel any sort of remorse about your actions in the past five minutes?]

’What is this, a therapy session? Of course I didn’t!’

[And why do you think that is?]

Sunny sat down on the large chain, thinking to himself.

’...Because I was protecting myself. If she didn’t reveal herself to be a threat, I wouldn’t have done anything.’

[Woah... that’s something only a sociopath could say with confidence! Seriously, you scare me man...]

Sunny tilted his head in confusion.

’What’s a sociopath?’

The voice was silent for a second, before sighing.

[A hotheaded person that can only think about themselves. You know, violent and stuff...]

Sunny frowned.

’I’m not violent!’

[Right.]

’...I literally can’t lie.’

[Only to others.]

There was a long pause.

’Come on now.... There’s no one else here. Why don’t you be honest with yourself for one? Just admit it. Don’t you dare become a hypocrite.’

[Come on now.... There’s no one else here. Why don’t you be honest with yourself for one? Just admit it. Don’t you dare become a hypocrite.]

Sunny grimaced and ground his teeth together. It felt like two voices were overlapping atop each other.

And both of them were his own.

’Say it!’

[Say it!]

Reluctantly, he opened his mouth and whispered:

”I killed her because I wanted to survive. I killed her... because it was easy.”

And just like that, he suddenly felt better.

Sunny scowled, getting annoyed by this strange conversation he was having with... someone. Maybe he really was losing it.

’Just... shut up.’

[If you say so. I’m not sticking around for long.]

With a sigh, Sunny stood up.

[One last thing.]

Groaning, Sunny allowed the voice to say it’s last few words before it would finally shut up.

[Dont die too much!]

”You’re pretty cute when you’re annoyed by something, Sunny.”

Out of instinct, Sunny swung in the direction that the voice came from. He heard a yelp, as his fist hit someone’s face.

He watched in disbelief as Sparkle stood there clutching her nose. Blood was gushing out, staining her porcelain face with red.

Somehow, she had come back, despite falling to her certain doom.

’...She can’t fly, right?’

She wiped away the blood with her sleeve, turning towards Sunny. She leaned forward closing her eyes.

”...What are you doing?”

”My nose. Fix it.”

Sunny sighed, gently grabbing her nose before quickly twisting it in place. She flinched at the pain for a moment, before going back to her happy expression.

...Wait a minute.

Sunny reached out his arms, wrapping his hands around her neck. She yelped in surprise, grabbing on to his arms as he started to strangle her.

Her grip was weak. It was as if she wasn’t even trying to stop him from choking her to death. If he used his shadows, he was sure he could snap her neck instantly...

So why was Sparkle looking at him like that?

It was a familiar expression, one from a long time ago. When he was a child. When he still had people who loved him. Despite the similarities, this felt different...

Sunny released his grip, stepping back as he looked towards Sparkle in disgust. The girl massaged her throat, never losing that look in her eyes despite the fact that he had tried to kill her. Sunny grimaced.

”...You’re gross. I’m not even...”

She shrugged.

”Does it really matter?”

She paused for a moment, before smirking.

”Did you find one of the answers to my questions?”

Sunny coughed, a blush rose to his face as he thought about the question she was referring to.

”...Yeah. Let’s just get out of here. I still need to kill some Nightmare Creatures.”

Sparkle hopped onto his back, holding onto him without hesitation. Both disturbed and comforted, he walked ahead with a torrent of thoughts running through his mind. They were silent for a few moments, before Sunny spoke up.

”You have horrible taste.”

Sparkle pouted, flicking the back of his head with her finger.

”...I’ll have you know that my taste is great. There are a whole lot of women who are attracted to guys that would kill them...”

Sunny coughed in surprise, almost causing him to lose his balance. The thought was... not very comforting.

”...For real?!”

”Yep! A lot of girls these days are weird like that.”

Sunny hoped he’d never have to meet a woman like that.

Wait...

”Doesn’t that make you even weirder than them?”

Sparkle blew a raspberry at him, spraying spit all over the back of his head. Sunny turned his head and glared at her, causing her to laugh as she wiped it off with her segmented sleeve.

”That’s not nice. You don’t say that to a girl after choking them, you sadist.”

Sunny blinked, wondering what choking a girl had to do with anything. If he choked a guy to death, would that make any difference?

”...What’s a sadist?”

”Uh... don’t worry about it. Just keep your cute little head focused on hand-holding and stuff.”

”Hand-holding?!”

Sparkle sighed as if she had been expecting this.

”Why is that, of all things,what you focus on?”

Sunny bit the inside of his cheek, uncomfortable with the question.

”...Isn’t that a grown-up thing? My mom told me not to do that with anyone unless I... uh... you know...”

There was silence for a moment. Nothing could be heard besides Sunny’s footsteps and the rattling of the massive chain. After a few moments, laughter could be heard across the Chained Isles, startling the corrupt wildlife as they moved away from the noise.

Sunny pouted in embarrassment, wanting to do nothing more than to punt Sparkle across the Dream Realm. He decided that he should probably change the subject...

”By the way, how did you get back up here?”

Instead of responding, white sparks appeared in front of Sunny, revealing a floating rapier. Sunny stared at it for a moment, as the rapier started to poke and prod him. Despite the threat of being stabbed, Sunny didn’t feel very threatened by it.

He saw multiple nodes, but it didn’t seem like a Memory. It was much too complex, and seemed to have more functions.

It must have been a strange Echo.

”I just hopped on and Quiet Dancer carried me back up here. I had to use the Dark Wing to make me lighter though...”

Sunny snickered.

”You’re too fat to be carried by your Echo!”

”You can’t call me fat! I mean, look at me!”

”Who said you are fat? I was actually insulting the Echo for being weak.”

The rapier poked him more aggressively.

Sunny couldn’t remember a time in which he had a genuine friend. As a child, other kids didn’t play with him since he was too selfish. As he got older, his behavior only got worse as the only person he could worry about was himself. He’d hurt others for his own gain, and he would keep a good distance so they couldn’t hurt him.

Today however, he decided to ignore that logic. Despite the fact that he would hurt Sparkle even more as time went on — both physically and mentally — he was sure that she wouldn’t do the same for him. Just this once, Sunny decided to let his guard down while in the midst of a world of horrific monsters.

If someone still loved him even after inflicting great amounts of pain, it would be rude to not accept them — even a little.

It was stupid to trust a person who could fake all their facial expressions, but he did so anyways. It went against his very nature.

Still, he didn’t think he would regret it.

Or maybe he would. He couldn’t see the future.