Shadow Slave

Rain ascended the ancient ziggurat as the Seed of Nightmare atop it died. Just before she reached the vast platform, a blinding flash tore apart the darkness of the Hollows, momentarily painting the world in radiant hues of gold.

By the time the golden brilliance vanished, Rain was already at the top of the towering ziggurat, the blackened ruins of the ancient city sprawled far below her.

She inhaled deeply, fixed the Puppeteer’s Shroud, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and headed toward the center of the platform.

As she was approaching it, there was suddenly a thunderous roar, and a devastating shockwave crashed into her, making a mess out of her hair once again,

‘Ah, damn it…’

Awakened had a tendency to unconsciously activate their new Aspect Abilities immediately after escaping a Nightmare — that was what she had been told, at least. One of her friends had received quite a devastating one, it seemed.

As the dust settled, she saw five figures rising to their feet unsteadily.

Tamar, Telle, Ray, Fleur, June…

Rain’s smile widened, and a heavy burden lifted from her heart.

It looked like they had all made it out of the Nightmare alive. She knew that they would — her brother would have sensed the destruction of their Marks otherwise — but knowing and seeing it with her own eyes was different.

Rain took a deep breath and then headed forward.

Her friends looked dazed, having just experienced the rebirth of rising to a new Rank. Ignoring their disoriented state, Rain caught Tamar in a tight embrace.

“Welcome back, Tamar! Or should I say… Master Tamar?”

Grinning, Rain let go of her friend.

Fleur’s turn was next. The young woman let out a surprised squeal as Rain hugged her.

“Ascended Fleur! It’s an honor!”

“Telle of White Feather! Oh my, I’m so glad I spared you life that time…”

Telle received a hug too. Ray got a pat on the shoulder, while June had to settle for a smile and a wink.

By the time Rain was done greeting her friends, they finally managed to compose themselves. Their Second Nightmare was a very long one, so it was going to take them a while to truly come to their senses — they had returned to their own bodies after inhabiting someone else for more than a year, after all.

And on top of that, their bodies were Ascended now. It was a lot to take in — even Rain, who had simply closed her eyes one day and opened them as a Master, spent months slowly getting accustomed to her new self.

Eventually, though, Tamar managed to smile.

“Rain. It’s good to be… w—wait?”

She stared at Rain fixedly, her eyes slowly widening.

“You’re a Master, too? How did this happen?!”

Rain coughed in embarrassment. She knew that becoming a Master had made her appearance more outstanding, but she didn’t think that her friends would notice the change immediately.

She lingered for a moment and then said with a smile.

“Oh… I don’t quite remember. It just happened one day.”

Her friends all stared at her with dubious expressions.

Rain cleared her throat.

“I know it sounds weird, but I really don’t remember. Right… you guys don’t know.”

They looked at each other, troubled.

“Don’t know what?”

Rain sighed.

“Let’s just say that… a lot has happened while you were gone. Speaking of which, you have an appointment with Lady Cassia. I’ve been told to bring you to her as soon as you conquer the Nightmare.”

Tamar frowned.

“What has happened, exactly?”

Rain scratched the back of her head.

“Oh, well. Let’s see. An evil Sovereign fell from the moon? All of humanity fell under a mind hex. There was a second Domain War… oh, Cassie is a Supreme now. Mordret killed Mordret. Everyone lost a couple of years’ worth of memories, and both worlds were in a state of emergency for a long while as a result. The Longing Domain was destroyed and then restored. Right, and there’s a nation of ancient people from the Dream Realm living in the Stormsea now, complete with their own Supreme. That’s the gist of it, I guess.”

Her friends just stared at her in stunned silence.

Rain remained silent for a short while, then smiled warmly.

“Anyway. Congratulations, everyone. You… you really did well. You did well to come back alive.”

Her smile widened a little.

“Sunny is congratulating you, too. You made him proud.”

As if to confirm her words, her shadow clapped silently, then made fists and shook them in the air.

Tamar nodded slowly.

“I see. Thank you, boss. And Rain, you’ll need to explain everything slowly on the way to… wherever Lady Cassia is.”

Telle, meanwhile, glanced around with a bewildered expression.

She pointed to the ground.

“Hey. Rain’s shadow just moved on its own. Did nobody else notice?!”

Tamar looked at her in confusion, then frowned.

“Oh, right. You don’t know.”

Telle seemed exasperated.

“Know what?!”

Tamar hesitated.

“Oh, well. Let’s see…”

***

Soon, the six of them descended the ziggurat and dove into the ruins, heading to where Rain had made her camp. In the process, they walked past scores of Nightmare Creatures who were pinned to the ground or to the walls of crumbling buildings with dozens of arrows, all writhing in horrible pain, but unable to die.

Tamar spared one of them a disturbed look.

“What the hell, Rain…”

Rain shrugged nonchalantly.

“What? I spent a few months here, waiting. You can finish them off if you’d like.”

That was what Tamar did, and by the time they reached the camp, each member of the cohort was carrying a few soul shards.

Rain was prepared, of course. Summoning the Bag of Withholding, she swiftly produced a veritable feast.

Cassie had to check the minds of everyone who had been in a Nightmare when the memories of humanity were erased, but that could wait. First, they had to celebrate the return of the cohort — and their new status as Masters, as well.

And after that…

Rain would have to lead the cohort to the Vanishing Lake, return to NQSC with them, then travel to Bastion from there.

She had no doubt that they would be able to catch up as they went.

It seemed that her secluded training was over.