Shadow Slave

Walking past the legion of silent shadows to stand between the five dark suns of his lightless soul, Sunny summoned the Memory forth. Soon, a round hand mirror of dark silver appeared in the air in front of him. Its front looked like a pool of still mercury, while its back was decorated with beautiful engravings.

Sunny saw his pale reflection in the silver mirror, and suddenly felt an eerie chill creep up his spine. That Memory... gave him a very ominous feeling.

When he took the mirror, it felt strangely heavy in his hand.

’Not a weapon, and not an armor. A tool, then? Or a charm?’

He hesitated for a moment, and summoned the runes.

Strings of shimmering symbols appeared in the air, surrounding the hand mirror. He read them, frowning slightly.

Memory: [Mirror of Truth].Memory Rank: Ascended.Memory Tier: Seven.Memory Type: Tool.

The first four strings held no surprises. The next few, however...

Sunny’s eyes widened slightly.

’What... why is that name here?’

The first word in the description of the Mirror of Truth was not one that he had expected to see today, but one that he knew all too well.

That word was...

Weaver.

Sunny glanced at the hand mirror with a tense expression, a deep scowl appearing on his face. Then, he slowly turned back to the runes and continued to study them.

Since the start of the Antarctica campaign, he had often encountered hints and mentions of Ariel, the Demon of Dread. So why did Weaver’s name suddenly show up in the runes of a Memory?

There was only one way to find out.

The description read:

Memory Description: [Weaver was known as the master of lies, while Ariel was known as the keeper of truths. The two were not close and rarely met, which was why Ariel was surprised to find Weaver staring at his pyramid one day.

”Isn’t it beautiful, this tomb of mine? Have you come to admire it?” Ariel said.

After a moment of silence, Weaver responded.

”I have not known that you’ve built a tomb, nor have I ever seen it. How would I know to admire it? I just happened to be here by chance. Now that I’ve seen it, my heart is untouched. I feel nothing.”

Then, Weaver asked.

”But you seem to feel too much, Demon of Dread. Your face is unsightly. You are smiling, but there are tears streaming from your eyes. Why?”

Ariel laughed, ”I’m not sure.”

He laughed and cried as he looked at the tomb, saying, ”I built it to bury the truth. Truth is the most hideous thing in the world, Weaver, and knowing it is a cruel torment. I mean to bury the truths that I cannot endure at the heart of this tomb, and be free of them forever.”

Weaver remained silent.

After a while, Weaver spoke.

”It seems to me that you already did. And you already are.”

With that, the Demon of Fate turned and walked away without looking back.

Walking away, Weaver whispered.

”...You wanted to be free of the truth, so you didn’t deserve it.”]

Just like Weaver in the description, Sunny remained silent for a long time.

’Wait... the Tomb of Ariel is not the burial place of Ariel, the Demon of Dread? Instead, it’s the tomb that he built?’

That information alone was worth a lot. However, there was so much more in that strangely verbose description. Like the fact that Ariel had apparently constructed the black pyramid to hide ugly truths from existence... or rather, those truths that he could not bear to know.

Wouldn’t that mean that the clan... or person... to conquer the pyramid would learn all those secrets?

But even more than that, Weaver’s appearance in the description of the [Mirror of Truth] was itself very interesting.

Sunny remembered the exact words:

’I have not known that you’ve built a tomb, nor have I ever seen it. How would I know to admire it? I just happened to be here by chance. Now that I’ve seen it, my heart is untouched. I feel nothing.’

Since Weaver had just been called the master of lies in the previous string of runes, wouldn’t it mean that Sunny should take these words with a grain of salt? So the Demon of Fate had actually known of the existence of the tomb, had seen it before, had come to look at it again on purpose, and felt a great deal of things as a result.

Maybe.

Sunny thought about it for a while, then shook his head.

’I’ll probably only know if I actually look at it myself.’

With that, he shifted his gaze and glanced at the runes describing the enchantments of the [Mirror of Truth].

...Or rather, an enchantment. There was only one.

By now, Sunny knew that more powerful enchantments demanded more space within the weave. Which meant that for a Memory of the Seventh Tier to possess a single enchantment, that enchantment had to be a really powerful one.

He read the runes:

Memory Enchantments: [Searching Reflection].Enchantment Description: [Catch the visage of a being into the Mirror of Truth. Activate the enchantment to destroy the mirror and gain one power of the reflected being for a period of time that depends on its potency.]

Sunny blinked a couple of times.

’Wha...’

His hand trembled.

Wouldn’t... wouldn’t that make him...

A discount Mordret?

”What the hell?”

He stared at the mirror, not knowing how to feel.

On one hand, being able to steal an ability of any being - be it a human or a Nightmare Creature - was crazy!

On the other hand, the [Mirror of Truth] would be destroyed in the process, and the stolen ability would only persist for a period of time. Which was still incredible...

But damned Prince of Nothing could do it any time he wanted, for as much time as he needed!

Sunny shook his head.

’No, this is an amazing Memory. It’s just that Mordret is seriously broken. And... and he even seems to be immortal, to boot! Where’s justice in that?!’

Grimacing, he left the Soul Sea and opened his eyes, staring silently at the roof of the tent. His mood was not great.

...It did not remain foul for a while, though.

That was because after a few minutes of sulking, Sunny couldn’t help but start thinking about whose Ability he could steal.

Nephis had really outstanding Abilities... except for her Ascended one, which was rather strange and all but useless. Cassie had great ones, too.

But why settle for those? What about Whispering Blade and Beastmaster? A Transformation Ability of a Saint in his hands... that would be a fun trump card to have!

Hell, he did not even have to limit himself to Saints. There was a Corrupted Titan somewhere in East Antarctica. There was the Winter Beast, too...

Sunny did not notice as a smile appeared on his face.

And so, he fell asleep, smiling.

His last thought was:

’Not bad for a day’s work...’