Shadow Slave: Foreign shadow

Sunny entered the temple of a long-forgotten God. His steps unheard as he walked in the ancestral ruin.

The invisible, formless guardian of the shrine—ancient and solitary—perceived the [spark of Divinity] shimmering within the depths of his true being and let him pass.

​Leaving his two adversaries behind had been a simple task. As their battle reached its fever pitch, Auro and Goliath had ceased to notice him, blinded by their own fury and his increasingly elusive presence.

​Sunny now stood within a vast, echoing hall. The floor was entirely submerged under a mantle of snow, a white shroud that dominated the space. The grey walls were high and imposing, and the ceiling was webbed with massive cracks, featuring a jagged rift that allowed the sunlight and the snow to pour through. Yet, there was one place where those luminous rays were forbidden from profaning.

​At the far end of the hall stood a large altar hewn from a single block of black marble, drenched in shadows so deep it felt as if the darkness in that part of the sanctuary was severing the world in two.

​Sunny’s steps came to a halt before the center of the ancestral chamber and looked up.

​Before him, though he could neither see nor perceive it, the ancient guardian of the temple offered its silent homage. It had waited for him since before the name of Time had even been coined.

​Sunny addressed his newfound friend. ”Yo!” He gave a brief wave of his hand.

It was the most intelligent greeting he could muster in the frantic rush of the moment.

​”O mighty and ancient guardian of the temple that remembers when the Gods were seven,” Sunny began, his voice shifting to a tone of gravity and respect. ”I have a deal to propose to you. Permit the Child of Heart and the Touched by Fate to enter this sanctuary, and I shall offer upon the altar far more than the blood promised at the dawn of the Age of Gods.”

​The guardian was taken aback by the sheer weight of the boy’s knowledge. Nevertheless, it bowed its unseen head, accepting the proposal immediately.

​Sunny smirked and glanced over his shoulder.

​The echoes of Auro and Goliath’s struggle still rang out, thunderous and desperate. He had time.

​Sunny positioned himself in the center of the great circle that governed the ancient hall, fixing his gaze upon the altar wreathed in gloom. In truth, his eyes were greeting the ghost of a young woman with hair as smooth as silk and as brilliant as a starless night sky—a woman with eyes of pure obsidian and a presence that had bewitched his very heart.

​Then, the Child of Shadows raised his black dagger with both hands and began to dance.

Sunny danced. And the elements bore witness.

​Brandishing his black dagger, he traced intricate patterns across the floor with circles and slashes. he moved with an exquisite elegance, his muscles stretching and coiling as he flowed from one stance to the next. Every cut through the air held a meaning; every thrust had a way, every slash a path. Each single, deliberate movement was a seamless continuation of the last, transforming the dance into a treacherous battle art—formless and insidious at once.

​Such was the Shadow Dance.

​The shadows all around whispered their praise, mourning the fall of their lady, their Priestess.

​During the rite, Sunny couldn’t help but smile as his consciousness slipped into the whirlwind of his thoughts, leaving instinct and muscle memory in full control of his frame.

​> the Jiminy Cricket within his mind asked, his voice dripping with curiosity.

​Sunny chuckled. ’I was thinking... that if the real Sunless were to appear here right now, I would tell him of every trial he’d have to face. I’d narrate his own future like an open window.

But now I realize that would just be an act of selfishness. In the end, I wouldn’t be guiding him toward a genuine conclusion, but toward an ending that satisfies only me.

However, Sunless isn’t here, so the problem is moot.’

​The Cricket chuckled, without malice. >

​Sunny let out a short, bittersweet laugh. ’I know that. I’ve made my peace with it. Yet, I am my own person, making my own choices. As I said before, I have no intention of following a script that’s already been written. Even Fate itself seems to agree with me—otherwise, why would the world have changed so drastically?’

​> the Cricket continued, driven by a nagging interest, >

​’Hate him?’ Sunny seemed genuinely taken aback by the question. ’No, never. I can’t say I agreed with every decision he made, but I loved Sunless.

And now that we are the same person, that love has become as vast as the ocean.

Why do you think I felt so guilty taking his place? Every smile I earned tasted like a tear stolen from him. Every footprint I left felt like his own trace vanishing from the world.’

​>

​’I have!’ he replied with pure, unyielding conviction. ’And that’s exactly why I want to tell him: ”Sunny. This world is far more complex, more raw, and more chaotic than the reality we both left behind. I’m sorry you aren’t the one here, but from now on... let me be the one to decide how this story ends, alright?”.’

​>

​Sunny smiled brightly. ’Trust me, I can’t wait to see what the future holds. So, Sunless... let’s escape this fate that only wants to see us suffer. Let’s find an epilogue that satisfies us both. Together!’

​With one final, sweeping pirouette of his dagger, the Shadow Dance reached its conclusion. The ritual was complete.

​And something listened.

​[You have performed an ancient sacred ritual of the shadows.]

[The Gods are dead and can not hear you.]

[Your soul bears the Spark of Divinity.]

[You are the bearer of an Empty Chalice.]

[The Gods demand a sacrifice.]

​As the Spell’s announcement echoed in his mind, Sunny turned toward the entrance. Goliath was ascending the stairs, using Auro like a rag to clear the path.

​Silent and stealthy, Sunny moved toward the sacred altar wreathed in gloom. Standing atop the marble block, he watched them enter.

Goliath hurled Auro across the snow and then collapsed onto one knee, exhausted by the frozen bite of the floor.

​Raising both hands and pressing the edge of the [Deplorable Dagger] against his left palm, Sunny called out to them.

​”Hey, idiots!”

​Auro and Goliath turned simultaneously, their faces masks of shock. Only now did they realize he had vanished during the struggle.

​”Eyes on me.”

​Sunny drew the blade across his palm. A single drop of warm, fresh blood fell onto the sacred altar beneath his feet.

​The Spell whispered, failing to hide a sense of forbidden excitement.

​[You have offered yourself as a sacrifice to the Gods.]

[Shadow God stirs in his eternal slumber.]

[He sends a blessing from beyond the grave.]

[Child of Shadows, receive your blessing!]

​And suddenly, the shadows—from the youngest and mildest to the most ancient and wise—rose at the will of their Lord.

The sunlight pouring through the rift in the ceiling was suddenly choked out by a rising tide of ink.

​A new, dark sun now dominated the interior of the Temple. A boy with black hair and onyx eyes stood at its center. No—he was the star itself. His rays were pitch-black tentacles of shadow, radiating from him like a dark epicenter, spreading across the vast hall.

​Shadow serpents slithered silently, yet hissing with malice, along the floor, walls, and ceiling. They reached Auro and Goliath where they lay broken upon the white.

​Instantly, the shadows surged upward like lashes, ensnaring the Champion of War’s limbs before he could even process the threat.

​Goliath was hoisted from the ground, suspended by his lone left arm. Then, they began to pull. The giant found himself being torn from three different directions; his agonizing screams filled the darkness-shrouded chamber.

​Cruelly, his own divine blessings denied him a quick death. His muscles were like iron-reinforced rubber, refusing to snap. His agony only intensified with every shriek, much to the visible delight of the undulating shadows.

​”Look at me,” a voice commanded.

​For a heartbeat, the shadows slackened their grip, allowing the Child of Shadows to deliver a final message.

​”I said, look at me!”

​Goliath finally lifted his head.

Standing before him was a pale boy who had moved across the hall as if he had folded space itself.

​There was no compassion in his gaze. His black eyes offered neither mercy nor comfort. Then, a warm, terrifying smile spread across Sunny’s face.

​”You know? I have to thank you, Goliath, Child of Heart.” His words left the dying Champion even more unsettled. ”To the very end, you were a source of inspiration for me. Unlike me, you knew how to stay true to yourself. Even when faced with death time and again, you never feared to show your true colors. It’s a virtue few can boast. For that... thank you. And goodbye.”

​Through the mask of blood and his fading life, Goliath offered one last radiant smile, a grin worthy of the Champion of War. ”You... are... welcome, boy!”

​Then...

​[Heart God stirs in his eternal slumber.]

[War God stirs in her eternal slumber.]

​”My son, from you nothing grows or sprouts. Let our bond be severed into nothingness.”

[Heart God removes his blessing from Goliath.]

​”My Champion, your war knows neither end nor glory. Only those who seek life beyond war are worthy of my name.”

[War God removes her blessing from Goliath.]

​It happened in an instant—a blink of an eye synchronized with the explosion of a thousand dying stars. Goliath’s body was torn asunder by the shadows. His viscera and scarlet blood painted the floor below in a gruesome mural.

​Yet, in that final fragment of time, the crimson light in his eyes flickered out. In that single moment, the Champion of War and the Child of Heart felt a despair and an atrocity that knew no equal.

​True to his word, Sunless had made Goliath feel regret in his final seconds, but he denied him the grace to beg for it.

​[You have slain an Ascendant human: Goliath, Champion of War.]

[You have received a Memory: Crimson Cloak.]

​Auro watched the scene unfold, paralyzed by pure terror. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to move, but his own shadow... his own shadow held him anchored to the stone.

​The Hero trembled as the demon who had become a black sun turned toward him, his tentacular rays of darkness coiling through the air.

​Sunny offered Auro a twisted, jagged smile. ”Do you want a party, Auro of the Nine?”

Before the Hero could even pray for his life, the shadows lunged.

​Tentacles of absolute darkness surged forward, aiming to pierce his flesh and tear him apart from the inside out. Auro recoiled, shielding his body with his bare hands—a desperate, futile instinct, yet his body refused to fade without one last act of defiance.

​The shadows were upon him, ready to extinguish his soul in an agony of black ink.

​But suddenly...

​FLASH.

​A blinding emerald light erupted within the hall, dissolving the encroaching shadow-tentacles into harmless black dust. The radiance surged outward, forming a protective barrier before the Hero.

​Auro, shielding his eyes with his trembling arms, peered into the glow. It did not burn; instead, it washed over him with a profound sense of serenity. Squinting, he recognized the source: the emerald prism pendant that Orphne had gifted to the Nine before their paths diverged. His Orphne.

​A single tear of joy traced a path down his blood-stained cheek. With the last of his strength, he reached out, desperate to touch the pendant, to feel the warmth of that memory one last time.

​But a piercing, soul-deep cold suddenly impaled his heart.

​Auro tried to gasp out one final word, but only a choked, bloody sob escaped his lips. Glancing down at his own shadow, he saw two abyss-black eyes staring back at him.

​In those final seconds, Sunny hissed through gritted teeth, ”I knew you had one last trick up your sleeve... you damned cur of Fate.”

​Those lightless black eyes were the last thing Auro saw as his final hour struck.

​[You have slain an Awakened human: Auro of the Nine.]

[You have received a Memory: Hero’s Solace.]

​[Heart God looks upon you and recognizes His Lineage.]

[He sends a blessing from beyond the grave.]

​[War God is grateful to you for slaying one of Her sworn enemies.]

[She sends a blessing from beyond the grave.]

​[Child of Shadows, receive your blessings!]

​The emerald light of the prism flickered and died. As the pendant fell silently onto the frozen snow, Sunny wrenched his blade from Auro’s stilled heart. The Hero slumped forward, his hand coming to rest just inches away from the cold prism on the white ground.

​The veil of ink that had choked the sun vanished, restoring light to the ancient temple hall. The rays illuminated the face of a pale, dark-haired boy who stared at the horizon with a melancholy gaze, as if he were about to be reborn into a new world.

​Sunny let out an exhausted, jagged sigh.

​”What a headache,” he muttered, deathly tired, yet profoundly grateful. This long Nightmare had finally reached its end.

​[Wake up, Sunless! Your Nightmare is over.]

[Prepare for appraisal...]

​The world began to dissolve around him, like a masterpiece fading back into a blank canvas.

​Until the very last moment—distant and dreaming—Sunless never stopped watching the warm sun high in the sky, curious to see where tomorrow would lead him.

​And so, the curtain falls on the prologue of our story.