-Bit of a shorter chapter, I was just not that into writting. Maybe the next one will be longer and flow better.-
Chapter 16: New Variables
Luster groaned, his arms heavy, his ears ringing with the force of the blow that had knocked him down.
Near him, Belle sprawled across the floor, his chest rising and falling with every laborious breath.
The rest of them lay scattered around the room, each in a similar shape.
"Gods... is he even human?"
Kimmy's meek voice was easy to hear in the nearly silent room.
"I don't even know, he doesn't even have any weak points."
Sunny chuckled as he listened to their defeated whispers.
"Well, it seems you all will need some intensive training before we go anywhere. I'm pretty sure my little sister could beat each of you in a fight, and she is mundane."
It was also true she had been training vigorously over the past month all the while Sunny fed her soul shards, but that did not exactly matter.
In the past, he had thought she needed to kill and become as strong as possible. But what was really the point in that?
He could make her plenty strong without forcing her to kill, and her flaw would prevent her from killing anyways. So, Sunny decided he would simply make her comfortable doing everything but killing.
Which, with the help of Jet and the governments' vast range of occupations, was surprisingly easy.
Quentin coughed.
"Well, if your sister is anything like you, I wouldn't be surprised."
The rest nodded.
Sunny gave them some time to recover from their spar before he continued.
"I meant what I said when I told you about needing to train. You are all pathetically weak for what is possible, and I know for a fact you can each do better."
The cohort seemed a little put out by his harsh words, however, Sunny didn't let them linger on it.
"However, I assume you will find it easier once you meet the others."
Luster, Kim, and Belle shared a look, as Samara asked.
"What others?"
As if on cue, the massive doors slide away with a metalic ring, each set of eyes drawn to the door.
A dozen figures staggered through the door, some limping, others being dragged by their teammates.
Behind them stood Effie and Kai, their voices lost in the sound of shuffling feet.
Dorn, Samara, Quentin, Kimmy, Luster, and Belle each shared a look, their faces speaking volumes of their current confusion.
However, it seemed as though the others felt the same.
"Who are they?"
"Who's the hottie?"
"Damn, what happened to them?"
Each of the voices said something different, all of them curious.
They all stood around the room in their premade groups, the natural disconnect clearly visible.
Sunny, Effie, and Kai stood near each other, their voices low.
Effie was currently finishing her assessment of the awakened in her cohort.
"The last two are Lenard and Lewis, Lenard is the swordsman, he is pretty good and his aspect utilizes force control and suppression. It's a powerful combination. Lewis is the Pilot, his Dormant ability is useless, but his Awakened creates a strong acid, it even ate through the memory you made."
Sunny gave the Pilot a glance through the shadows. The thin man didn't seem like much, but if his ability could damage the memories made by Sunny, then he was the real deal.
Kai thought for a second, then began.
"Well, most of them are pretty average compared to when Nephis and Effie were Awakened. However, Melvin is a good tank. His Aspect lets him reinforce his place in the world for a few seconds, it let him shrug of more than a few of my arrows."
Sunny was kind of disappointed to hear about the average state of his friends' cohorts, but it was not unexpected.
Most of the soldiers here were simple government workers, not active Awakened trying to search for strength.
Sunny gave Effie and Kai a brief explanation of his cohort, From Samara's preference of imbuing existing ammo to Kimmy's ability to discern the weak point of all things.
It took him a bit of time to explain their abilities in nuance, and Effie and Kai were astounded by the level of info he knew.
It was as if he had fought with them countless times.
But Effie and Kai knew that he very well could have.
After they finished their discussion, Sunny took some time to explain the difference in the basic Irregulars, and the Irregular teams Designated shadow.
It was safe to say many of them were surprised to hear they had just been involuntarily submitted into a shadowy organization by the government, but none of them objected.
"We will be working alongside the other Irregular Companies, the only real difference is the secrecy. The three of us will be wearing masks starting the moment we step onto those ships, so will the soldiers we brought. You, however, are not expected to do the same."
Sunny sighed.
"As so eloquently put by Jet, you are still people with rights, and I cannot force you into being members of the Shadow Clan. However, I assume it goes without saying that you are not to speak of this to anyone, correct."
Those that hadn't met Sunny before took a moment to reply, however.
"Yes sir!"
Six voices sounded, each with haste.
Each turned to see the previously sitting soldiers now standing and saluting the short boy who introduces himself as Ascended Sunless.
A title they were not sure they believed yet. However, every second he spent conversing with the famed Raised by Wolves and Nightingale sold the image just a little bit more.
"Good, now then."
The shadows under his feet swirled as a towering Onyx Saint emerged from them.
The aura that drifted from her made the Awakened shiver, however none dared take their eyes of her glorious visage.
"This is Saint, she will be providing you all with some quality bonding opportunity." Sunny smiled, the shadows dancing around the room making it strange and unsettling.
"While, you do that." His face fell as something like sorrow appeared. "It seems I must return to weaving, oh the horror..."
~~~
And so, Sunny had left those poor Awakened under the care of Saint, overseen by Effie and Kai.
And, even now, Sunny could feel the movement through the shadows, the unending beating still ongoing hours later.
He honestly felt a little bad for his long-time cohort.
That feeling however, was entirely eclipsed by the utter monotony of weaving the countless essence strings into enchantment after enchantment, memory after memory.
In just four hours, he had finished two memory armors with a total of sixteen to go. That was if he disregarded individualism and flare, sticking to a set few enchantments and designs.
The true enemy of artists everywhere is time.
With a sigh, Sunny continued his weaving, the minutes stretching into what felt like hours, then the hours into days.
It was sudden, the change coming like a flood as images and knowledge filled his mind. He hissed, his mind recoiling from the enhanced sense of mind weave as thousands of new branches of thought opened in his mind.
"What the-"
Then, just as the first wave, another flash of images washed over him, this time, it reminded him of the moments in the crimson spire, the moment he had received the knowledge of the future.
The image of him visiting Kai in Raven Heart, his time inside of Ariel's dreadful game, the truths he found within its pieces. He saw his time in the true great mirror of Mirage, the massive reflection of Weaver held within its own Great Mirror.
The conversations with Mordret, Asterion, the graffiti, the Night Garden, Repose's connection to heart, the purpose of the spell...
It was all so much, too much. Sunny's mind simply shut down, the essence strings woven through his fingers fading to nothing.
~~~
Far away on the desolate expanse of Central Antarctica, dozens of nightmare gates suddenly ripped the fabric of space, each being pushed open by some force.
From within one, countless white hands extended forth, each gripping the edges of the tear.
From another, two beasts walked out, their gazes empty and curious as they surveyed the landscape around them.
Another with a Leopard covered in white fur, its eyes leaking golden sand like tears, the world warped and twisted around it, its tears turning the snow to sand.
A Towering skeleton, a Legendary Artifact gripped in one hand the remnants of a rusted sheild in the other.
A black mass, writhing and growing as it took the shape of the countless creatures it washed over.
And far away, on a continent long lost, a creature stirred.
It's dreadful eyes stirred, their sight piercing the distance across continents with ease.
It could feel the corruption leaking into the world, the flame that burned it away.
'The flame...'
Oh how it longed for the flame...