Shadow Slave

Sunny inhaled deeply, trying to sense what changes had happened to him due to the completion of the Weave.

He remembered how he had started on the path of inheriting the lineage of the mysterious daemon, and all the trials he had to overcome to obtain it.

Back then, on the Forgotten Shore, ignorant of the world and enthralled by the Soul Devourer... why was it that he had decided to climb the branches of that malevolent tree? Sunny barely remembered.

‘Oh, right... I wanted to find the most delicious fruit to give it to Nephis and lift her mood.’

Nephis had resisted the enthrallment a bit better than Sunny and Cassie, spending most of her days on the shore of the Ashen Barrow and looking west with longing in her eyes... like Odysseus dreaming of Ithaka on the shore of Ogygia. Even if she could not remember why she had wanted to leave and what she was striving to achieve, she still felt restless and lost in the deceitful bliss of the mind hex.

Sunny, brainwashed as he was, could not understand why she seemed to be so down, so he decided to bring her some delicious soul fruits to cheer her up. That was why he stumbled on the Thieving Bird’s nest, destroyed the Thieving Bird’s egg, and received Blood Weave.

That was what put him on the path of searching for the scattered parts of Weaver’s lineage.

Had it really been a coincidence, or was all of it a part of Weaver’s plan?

To be honest, Sunny did not know if anything having to do with him could be called a coincidence. He was Fated, after all. He wasn’t sure that anything having to do with Weaver could be called a coincidence, either.

However, now that he had spent more than a decade searching for traces of the nebulous daemon and learning more about that mysterious creature, Sunny thought that he understood the Demon of Fate — and fate itself — at least a little bit better. As such... he did not think that once, a long time ago, Weaver had imagined a street rat called Sunny finding the first fragment of their lineage and going on to hunt for the rest.

However, Weaver could very well had read the currents of fate and twisted them ever so slightly, making sure that, one day in the future, the world would assume just the right form for just the right kind of person to end up in the right place at the right time, setting Weaver’s plan in motion — making Weaver’s plan inevitable, even.

So while Weaver might not have known Sunny’s face or name, they would have known what kind of being their heir would be.

A kind of being who would survive an encounter with the Soul Devouring Tree and the Vile Thieving Bird’s Spawn, descend into the depths of the Sky Below and swallow Weaver’s phalanx, reach the estuary of the Great River in the Tomb of Ariel, conquer the illusory world of the Demon of Imagination, lay siege to the Eternal City at the bottom of the Twilight Sea, win Ariel’s Game, and brave the dark depths of the Underworld.

Sunny sighed deeply, looking at the runes with a dark expression.

‘I think I already said it... but couldn’t that damn daemon leave the pieces of his lineage in more easily accessible places? They really put me through a whole damn lot!’

Just one of those harrowing adventures was enough to kill the absolute majority of people. Surviving seven in a row? Even for a Fated individual, it was a stretch.

Shaking his head, Sunny felt... relieved.

It was all over now, at least.

All that was left was to claim his prize.

And what a prize it was!

Sunny could already feel it... all parts of him being tempered as all seven fragments of the Weave fused into a single whole, each growing stronger and supporting the rest. His blood had grown more potent, both making him more durable and greatly enhancing his endurance.

His already unbreakable bones had become nearly indestructible, the marrow within them absorbing great torrents of vitality. His muscles, tendons, and organs had been reforged and tempered, making him even more resilient and offering him even greater explosive strength.

His spirit had become vaster, the weight of his Will leaving a deeper dent in the fabric of the world.

His soul had become both more malleable and harder to destroy.

His mind expanded, offering him an even greater capacity to fathom countless ideas at the same time.

His shadows swelled with greater power, the potency of his essence increasing as well.

But those... those were merely side effects of [The Weave] being completed.

Before turning his mind to the last and true boon gifted to him by it, Sunny aimed his gaze at the runes and read the description of his new Attribute.

The runes read:

[”Tell me, oh Demon of Fate,” said Oblivion. ”How can fate be changed?”

The Demon of Fate laughed, looking at the great tapestry of fate with wonder and fear.

“Why would you want to change fate? Fate cannot be changed. Fate cannot be bargained with. Fate cannot be escaped, either, because fate does not know the distinction between the past and the future. Everything that has ever happened, is happening, and will happen is inscribed in the threads of fate, because fate is great, and there is nothing greater than fate.”

The Demon of Fate looked at Oblivion and said in a nebulous tone, ”Mortal men are powerless in front of fate. We, the daemons, are just as powerless as mortals. Even the great gods bow their heads to fate, and those who dwell in the Void are not above it either. Fate rules all, is above all... it is a force that looms above the Flame and the Void, governing both — encompassing all of existence.”

The Demon of Fate smiled bitterly.

”How can the future be changed if time itself is merely a weapon created by the gods, and the gods are powerless against fate? Fate cannot be changed because it doesn’t know time. It exists in the flash of a single moment. Fate is not something that is happening; it is something that has already happened. It is an axiom, immutable and inalienable. How are you going to change something that has already transpired, sister? That is impossible.”

Hearing the Demon of Fate, Oblivion shook her head.

”It is possible.”

The Demon of Fate scoffed and said in a tone of amusement, ”What makes you so sure?”

Oblivion leaned forward then and said, her voice echoing in the darkness, ”The Void is everchanging, and therefore, in its endless permutations, it eventually gave birth to something unchangeable — to the Flame of Desire. That is the paradox of Chaos. Fate is no different. If it truly governs all possible events and encompasses all possible outcomes... then it will give birth to something that cannot be encompassed or governed one day. It will give birth to the paradox that will destroy it. Creating such a paradox — that is how fate can be changed.”

The Demon of Fate seemed appalled, ”A third paradox? What kind of treacherous being can summon it into existence? That thing would have to possess the power of a great god, the curse of a daemon, and be the avatar of fate itself on top of that. Do you think I can create such an abomination, sister?”

The Demon of Fate grinned, ”Is that a challenge?”]

Sunny stared at the runes, dumbfounded.

”Huh?”

The power of a great god, the curse of a demon, an avatar of fate...

What did it mean to be an avatar of fate? Gods had avatars. Lesser beings could sometimes control incarnations, as well — Sunny himself was an example of such a creature. But fate? Fate did not possess personhood. It did not have goals or ambitions, either. It simply existed, and therefore, it could not incarnate its consciousness in a mortal vessel.

So what kind of avatar could fate create?

If Sunny imagined fate as a force as opposed to a being, then maybe its avatar did not have to wield its consciousness. Perhaps it simply had to be a manifestation of fate as a force, its personification. A living embodiment of inevitability, a person who enforced fate by the mere fact of their existence... whether they wanted to or not. And who could these champions of fate have been?

One group came to mind.

‘The Nine.’

The Nine, who were all Fated... just like Sunny was.

His eyes widened slightly.

‘An avatar of fate... a Fated person?’

Then, his eyes widened a little more.

‘Wait! T—then, then... the power of a god, the curse of a daemon, an avatar of fate? That described a person who has the [Fated] Attribute, a Divine Aspect, and the lineage of a daemon! That’s me, goddamnit!’

The paradoxical abomination Weaver had mentioned... was Sunny?

Sunny, who was [Fated], wielded the Shadow Slave Aspect, and obtained [The Weave].

His expression changed

‘You’ve got to be kidding me. And who is that damned daemon calling an abomination?!’