Shadow Slave

Cassie slowly surfaced from the torrent of visions bestowed upon the Lord of Shadows by Weaver, the Demon of Fate. All around her, the vast vortex of glistening memories was spinning in the darkness with startling speed, their trails fusing into strings of silver light.

She strained her Will to keep the ocean of memories at bay, her entire being trembling from the pressure.

At the same time, the seeds of Corruption were slowly taking root in her soul.

‘Ah...’

There had been no concept of time in the dark ocean of memories before. However, now, there was — the spreading Corruption served as an axis that separated the past from the future, and therefore, Cassie’s time was running out.

If she did not solve the mystery of her state before it was too late, she would become an abomination.

She would become Torment once again.

So, she needed to hurry.

Instantly composing herself, Cassie regarded the revolving galaxy of memories and identified the ones she needed to remember among the sea of glistening shards.

The tentacles of her Will shot forward with flawless agility, catching the fleeting memories as they flashed by.

She had almost pieced it all together — the start, the middle. Now, she only needed to know the end.

In the first of the remaining memories, the Lord of Shadows was brewing tea.

They recently returned to the Dream Realm, having spent an exhausting amount of time dealing with the immediate aftermath of the council at the Immortal Flame manor. The news of what Asterion had said was spreading across both worlds, and the foundation of the Human Domain was shaking. The situation looked grim.

Sunny was incredibly frustrated himself, but he knew that Nephis would be feeling worse. So, he brewed two cups of calming tea and brought them to the table.

Pushing a steaming cup toward Nephis, he studied her for a moment and asked:

”Are you angry?”

She looked at him with a stony expression.

”Why would I be angry?”

Sunny sat down and cradled his own cup in his hands, enjoying the subtle scent of tea.

”Because the Dreamspawn revealed the truth about your clan’s downfall? There is nothing shameful about it, naturally, but no one likes to appear weak. And you dislike it more than anyone.”

Nephis stared at him silently for a few moments. Eventually, she looked away and said in an even tone:

”I’m happy to appear weak as long as it benefits me. What’s wrong with appearing weak? The weaker you look, the more likely the adversary is to underestimate you.”

Sunny smiled faintly. That sounded suspiciously like something he would say, making him feel like he was rubbing off on her.

”I guess there is nothing wrong with it”

The revelation of how Broken Sword had died and how the Immortal Flame clan had fallen was not that harmful for the Longing Domain. Neither was the truth of how Nephis had schemed and deceived countless people to eliminate the Sovereigns. Asterion had not meant to harm the idea of Changing Star with these scandalous claims, to begin with. He had merely offered them as provocation. It was the last truth he revealed that served as the true attack — the truth of how Sunny and Nephis had been willing to risk numerous lives in order to bring down the King of Swords and the Queen of Worms.

That one... that one was bound to cause the idea of Changing Star, and therefore the resilience of the Longing Domain, actual damage.

Sunny took a sip of tea.

”He dealt us a painful blow.”

Nephis remained silent for a while, then shrugged.

“I’m used to pain.”

He sighed.

She reached for her cup and tasted the tea, then exhaled slowly.

”Thank you.”

Nephis looked at Sunny and forced out a smile.

Then, she asked in a calmer tone:

”When is Cassie returning?”

An incarnation of Sunny was hiding in Cassie’s shadow, so he was aware of where she was at all times. At the moment, she was in the government complex, talking to an Awakened... the man looked familiar, and from the form of his shadow, Sunny recognized him as one of the thralls Cassie had cured.

He kept a watchful eye on the former thrall, unsure if Asterion had reclaimed the man once more.

“Soon. She is...”

Sunny frowned, witnessing as Cassie pulled her blindfold down. Moments later, drops of blood fell on the floor, and his expression darkened.

“She is using her Transcendent Ability again.”

Nephis grasped her cup tighter and drank from it.

Far away, in the waking world, Cassie wiped the blood off her face and slowly pulled the blindfold back up. The Awakened seemed dazed after experiencing her gaze, so she bid him farewell and walked away.

Entering an empty room, she glanced at her shadow and said quietly:

“Sunny. I want to return now.”

Her voice sounded oddly distant.

As a Saint, Cassie could travel across the realm boundary herself. However, she could not take Sunny, who was hiding in her shadow, with her — that was because his soul was Supreme, and contained a vast legion of shades within itself on top of that. So, there was hardly a Transcendent in the world who could pull him to a different world.

Instead, Sunny emerged from Cassie’s shadow, held her delicate shoulders, and transported both of them to the Ivory Island.

There, he sighed and manifested a black cloth from the transient shadows.

Raising it to her face, he carefully wiped off the blood smeared across it.

“I wish you would stop doing that.”

Hearing him, Cassie lowered her head.

“It... was worth it, though.”

A hesitant smile touched her lips.

“I think that I discovered a hint about how to deal with the Dreamspawn, Sunny.”

He stared at her in confusion for a moment. Then, he silently pulled Cassie into the shadows and brought them both to the room where his other avatar was drinking tea with Nephis.

The avatar had already brewed the third cup.

Cassie gulped it down in one go and faced them with a subtle hint of nervousness.

”l left myself a message, a long time ago. But I only received it today.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

Was that message similar to the one Cassie had sent herself in order to find him after the Tomb of Ariel? The message that had led her to the door of the Brilliant Emporium. She took a deep breath, and then said in a solemn tone:

”That message told me how to defeat the Dreamspawn.”

Sunny and Nephis both stared at her, unconsciously holding their breaths.

Cassie remained silent for a few moments. Then, she coughed.

”It’s just that...”

She paused briefly.

“It’s just that I don’t think I understand what it means.”

Sunny and Nephis stared at her, then looked at each other.

”What is the message?”

Cassie leaned back, hesitating.

“It’s a question and an answer. The question is: how does one defeat an idea that spreads like a plague? The answer... is oblivion.”

Nephis frowned, visibly confused.

”I don’t think that I know what it means, either.”

Cassie sighed.

“There must be some significance to the answer. There is the obvious meaning, naturally — that the plague can be cured by erasing the victim’s memories of knowing the Dreamspawn. I have already been doing just that, even if my personal abilities are not enough to make a real difference. Oblivion is also the title of one of the daemons... possibly there is a connection there? We should research it thoroughly...”

However, Sunny interrupted her.

“There is no need.”

When Cassie and Nephis turned to him, he lingered for a moment and then said quietly:

”There is no need to research anything. Because I already know what that answer means.”

It was the description of the Estuary Key, after all... of a Memory Sunny himself had created.

Or, rather, of a Memory created by the Mad Prince.