After the spell had welcomed him, Yoru found himself staring into a lightless void.
Surrounded by complete darkness, his other senses made up for his lack of sight. He heard the sound of water. The waves were calm and resounding rather than crashing, and this observation immediately made Yoru think of the dark sea.
He shivered.
Fearing what might lurk in that suffocating dark, he granted himself an academy spear and wrapped his fingers around the shaft.
He considered summoning a flame for light then immediately dismissed the thought. Remembering the consequences Nephis and Cassie paid for doing so, he was cautious of making the same mistake. Especially when he didn't know where he was or more specifically, what kind of abhorrent beings would notice the light.
Yoru gazed into the darkness forcing his eyes to adapt to the gloom as soon as possible and whilst doing so, he noticed the texture of stone and gravel beneath his bare feet, as well as the slight wind that glided off his naked body.
'...Right. I'm naked.'
As he tethered the wish for clothes to his soul core he found that his vision adjusted just enough to reveal vague outlines of his surroundings.
He stood atop a wide stone platform, although in the dark he couldn't tell exactly how wide but it was spacious enough for him to at least lie down comfortably. Not that he had any intention of doing so.
The stone floor bore shallow groves in its surface and some parts were wet whilst others remained dry.
Two meters of visibility. That was all the Spell would grant him. Not the the most reassuring thing but it was the best he would get in his current predicament.
The tether had been formed and clothes began to materialise around his body, granting him a small degree of comfort. Of course, mundane clothes would prove completely useless against even the weakest of creatures but at least he wouldn't feel cold.
Steeling himself, Yoru took a deep breath and prepared to do something incredibly stupid.
'It's almost like I want to die…' He mused to himself as he neared the platforms edge.
Stooping low, he cupped the water in his hands and studied it.
Its colour was black. No - darker than black. It was as if he held a piece of the night sky within his hands. But what he held was much more terrifying and imposing than the night sky could ever hope to be. It was a portion of a Great Titan.
Appalled, he couldn't help but sigh.
'I would cry... but i'm scared something might hear me.'
It was no surprise that he was thrusted into the hell-scape that was the Forgotten Shore, but expecting such an outcome didn't make it any less miserable.
He hurriedly backed away from the waters edge and summoned a chair in the centre of the stone platform. He leisurely took a seat and crossed one leg over the other. Just because he was stranded in the middle of a death zone did not mean he had to abandon comfort all together.
Sighing to himself Yoru nestled into deep thought.
'A stone platform that peaks just slightly over the dark sea… It's obvious I'm stood on one of the stone statues, but which one-?'
Before he could give that question its deserved thought, the current's tempo drastically changed becoming restless and unsettled, whilst the waves themselves turned into chaotic swells that slammed against the stone, sending cold spray over the platform. The Dark Sea writhed and churned, its surface bulging and collapsing as something vast cut through the depths, displacing impossible amounts of water.
Something dreadful was moving beneath its surface... and fast.
Being blind and combined with what he was hearing caused a sinking weight to settle in Yoru's stomach, involuntarily tightening his grip around the spear.
That was when he noticed the peculiar sound of paddling, getting nearer and nearer.
He quickly dropped into a stance and levelled his spear towards the edge of the platform.
Five agonisingly-long seconds later, a human shaped figure broke through the surface of the water with all the elegance of a drowning puppy. They quickly rolled onto the refuge that was the stone platform and gasped for as much air as possible.
A heartbeat later, the entire platform shook as whatever creature was in pursuit crashed into the statue, eliciting two frightened shrieks and throwing Yoru back into the chair he had just stood from.
The figure scrambled away from the edge just as monstrous jaws surged out of the black water, snapping open to reveal row upon row of nightmarishly large teeth. Yoru stared into that maw, his breath trapped in his throat and his body seizing with a cold terror.
This was the first nightmare creature he had ever seen - and it made him feel utterly, horribly small.
'Shit! The statue Isn't tall enough!'
… However, before the monster had a chance to attack, a colossal tentacle suddenly broke through the water and rose into the air like some strange, black tower. Before too long, it fell down, entangling the owner of the giant maw and pulling it back under the water.
'Oh yeah, now I remember. That thing was running away...' He thought inwardly, relieved.
His legs stopped working entirely. It was fortunate he was already sitting.
The figure, however, wasn't as lucky, as they plopped onto the ground, their chest heaving and body shaking.
In an attempt to shake off his intense fear, Yoru weakly crossed one leg over the other and adopted his usual carefree tone.
"Sunless, My most cherished friend in two worlds! Glad you could make it. Welcome to my small island of rock in the middle of a hellish sea."
Too exhausted to face him, Sunny remained sprawled on the ground wearing an expression that was equal parts agony and irritation.
"I knew I sensed your shadow... but damnation... but why is it always you...?" He wheezed, both frustrated and tired.
"Cheer up. I'm the best company around - no, scratch that. The best to exist! There's no one better to hang out with than me."
Sunny slowly sat up and faced the sea.
His face held a strange, haunted look, as though he was seriously weighing which fate was worse: the horrors beneath the water or the egotist beside him.
***
"I wish I was calm."
"Granted."
Yoru snapped his fingers and Sunny's eyebrows slowly rose, feeling a cool sense of placation wiping away his sense of dread and pushing it to the back of his mind.
He turned to Yoru, who lounged comfortably in his chair, wearing that infuriatingly smug smile.
"...So you really are a genie."
"Think I made that pretty obvious since the first time I met you."
Sunny scoffed.
"Not my fault you're terrible at it. Opening the door and pulling chairs for someone isn't much of a wish, even I could do that."
'Bloodydamn, he's right.' Yoru admitted internally. He was a cheapskate through and through. But wishes were wishes and they saturated his core all the same.
"Well, great or small, they still count."
Sunny sighed and gave up on the pointless bickering instead choosing to figure out their current situation.
It was nothing short of a miracle that he'd immediately stumbled into another person, though he'd never admit that and say it aloud, considering who this other person was. Still, the odds of survival had risen.
At least it was someone familiar. Not that he'd call him a friend.
He then turned his attention to their surroundings. It was easy to piece together that the platform they were stood on was man made, but that could never be guaranteed in the dream realm. Perhaps it was a...
Better not to think about it.
The platform wasn't connected to anything, existing as a tiny island in the sea of darkness. There wasn't anything else above the water for as far as Sunny was able to see. After discovering that fact, he also realized something else.
It was that he was wet, cold, and completely naked.
'Huh.'
He was wet, freezing… and completely naked.
"Huh!!"
All the calm Placate had given him evaporated in an instant.
Sunny slapped his hands over his crotch and chest like a violated maiden. Blue sparks flashed as he summoned the Puppeteer's Shroud, wrapping himself in dignity and cloth.
His face flushed a deep red.
"You-! You just stood there and watched without saying anything!?"
Yoru exploded into laughter, hard enough that the chair wobbled and dumped him onto the floor. He wheezed through the hysterics, wiping a tear from his eye.
When he finally managed to speak, his voice trembled with leftover mirth.
"I'm sorry, truly. But I had to see what kind of monster Changing Star would be up against."
Sunny glared at him with the intensity of a man strongly considering murder.
A few dying chuckles escaped Yoru, but eventually his expression settled into something more serious.
"That was hilarious… but seriously, we need to be quiet. Otherwise we might actually die."
A/N: Sorry I took such a long break. I had a clear idea of where I wanted the story to go then I disliked it and went another direction. Then I had surgery to.
Hope everyone enjoys this chapter and Happy New Year!