'Is this… It can't be… I've… regressed…?'
After being attacked by the terrifying Cursed Terror, Sunny remembered being grabbed and pulled upwards, and then… and then he was surrounded by water.
The water of the river of time, the water within the estuary, no less.
'This… this has to be some sort of elaborate prank.'
He spread his shadow sense outwards.
'This range… it's… it's pitiful.'
His shadow sense was barely able to see outside the building. But… everything seemed real, it didn't seem to be some sort of setup or illusion.
He could see the shadow of the awakened that left earlier standing with the police officer, they seemed to be talking about something, but Sunny couldn't care less.
Sunny sunk further into his bed.
'Just what… what… out of all the things that have happened to me… this might be the worst!'
He felt his face grow hot and his eyes grow wet.
"E-Everyone…"
Everyone was gone, all the relationships he spent so long building. All the things he had spent so long accumulating.
Everything was gone.
Sunny slowly stood up.
"A-Ah…"
His luck had never been good, but this was just…
Now he was nobody, and had nothing.
He was in an unfamiliar place, hell — he was in an unfamiliar time.
Sunny stumbled towards the washroom in a haze, he felt like he was having an out of body experience, and everything he was seeing was happening to someone else and not him.
Feeling like he was dead, he arrived at the washroom and looked at himself in the mirror.
He felt like he was staring at his own corpse.
His face was pale and sunken, his eyes seemed like they had only ever seen horror, his hair was much shorter and frailer, seeming like it could be pulled out with a single yank.
Yet when he looked a little closer, he saw something else.
A small golden light, hidden in the depths of his eyes.
'...Blood Weave?'
He hurriedly summoned the runes once more.
He couldn't help steal a glance at his memories, his curiosity needed to be sated.
Memories: [Silver Bell], Puppeteer's Shroud], …
His heart ached.
'My memories, my memories! Damn it'
Before he could lament further something strange appeared at the end of the list.
….[Weaver's Mask]
'...'
'How?'
It had followed him through time?
He already had a hard time believing that he regressed, but now this?
Despite everything that had just happened, this still felt unbelievable.
'Fate… It's always this damn Fate!'
Just what more did it want from him?!
'Wait… Fate?!'
Attributes: [Flame of Divinity], [Lord of Shadows], …
Sunny, not in his right mind, completely ignored the fact that his shadow attribute had evolved.
But then… At the end of the list of attributes, he saw what he had been dreading.
'I knew this was next… damn it… damn it all!'
[Blood Weave], [Bone Weave], [Soul Weave],...
Sunny felt suffocated, as if chains were twisting all around him. He now felt bound by fate more than ever before. He felt as if he was just a puppet dangling on endless strings, forever moving according to another.
And yet… There was still a light at the end of this terrible, terrible road.
[██]
Attribute Description: ██
Even though the attribute appeared blank, as if the Spell had never seen such a thing. He knew what it was. After all, with [Fated] missing, it could only be one thing.
[Fateless]
"Ha…"
Despite everything.
He had still gotten what he so desperately wished for.
He looked at his aspect.
[Shadow Bond] was greyed out completely, without a true name, he would never have a master. And without fate, he would never have a true name.
'...I'm free.'
Sunny felt a knot rising in his throat as his face grew hot.
He then looked at his flaw.
Flaw: [Clear Conscience]
It hadn't changed at all.
Sunny leaned down to wash his face in the sink.
'I'm free?'
He had his freedom, but…
'Everyone's gone anyways, what's the damn point of it now!'
Although they weren't truly gone, the ones he had known and loved…
'No… no… They're still out there, I'll see them again someday…'
Maybe that was enough.
Sunny looked up at himself again in the mirror.
After washing his face, he looked slightly revitalised, but there were clear signs of crying.
He looked down at his shadow. His shadow looked back at him. Normally he would have smiled at the comforting sight, but he was in no mood. The shadow seemed to be in no mood either as it lay there gloomily.
'Now, I am nobody, and I have nothing.'
He took a deep breath, leaning backwards slightly as he closed his eyes.
***
Exiting the washroom with a slightly revitalised but still dead look, Sunny saw the awakened from earlier re-entering the room.
"Ahem."
The government agent cleared his throat awkwardly while smiling slightly.
"Are you ready to talk now?"
Although Sunny still felt awful about this horrendous situation, he was no longer distressed or panicking, so he was able to answer calmly.
"Yes, and sorry about before."
The man didn't appear to be offended at all. As if people regularly reacted like that when they were spoken to.
'How did this guy even end up being the one watching me anyways?'
It should've been Jet, but seeing as he was 10 years early, Jet would've only been a sleeper or a fledgling awakened by now.
'Maybe I'll meet her soon'
Realising the silence in the room was getting awkward, he looked at the officer.
"So uh, what now?"
"Oh! Come with me, I need to register you, Sleeper…"
He looked at Sunny expectantly.
"Sunless"
'Wait, how did I even end up in the police station if I'm in the wrong time?'
"Also, this may sound weird but… how am I here?"
The agent's eyes lit up upon hearing that.
"Oh! I was wondering when you were going to ask that! We actually found you sleeping on the ground in the outskirts, normally this would be ignored but one of our agents spotted some symptoms of the Nightmare Spell, and so you were brought here."
The agent leaned forward a bit.
"You know, not surrendering yourself after showing symptoms of the Nightmare Spell is a pretty severe crime right?"
Sunny looked at him, not scared even in the slightest.
"Sorry, but, I genuinely have no idea how I got here, or when any of this happened."
It was technically the truth, and the agent seemed satisfied hearing this. He leaned back and put his hands together.
"Well, since you successfully awakened there's no problem. So, Sleeper Sunless, what do you know about being an awakened?"
"Well, you just go to the academy to train until the winter solstice right?
"Correct! That's in about a month, by the way. Anyhow, are you ready to go?"
"...Alright, but can I at least shower first?"
The agent suddenly seemed to realise how terrible Sunny smelled, and immediately backed away. He spoke again while covering his nose with a hand.
"Of course! Let's go."
***
Sunny showered for a long time, his skin practically boiling beneath the steaming hot water.
Deep in his thoughts, his mind was spiraling downwards.
But despite everything, Sunny was nothing if not strong.
He was able to get it together, and move forward.
Sunny stepped out of the shower, covering himself with a towel.
'Just what am I gonna do now…'
He had a month until the winter solstice, but he still had no idea what the future held.
Would he still be sent to the forgotten shore? Hell would he even be sent to the Dream Realm? What about his past abilities, like the Shadow Dance, would they still work?
Sunny continued to think as he dried himself off and put on the police issued tracksuit. He had the knowledge and experience to severely change the future, but did he want to? Doing so might change the people he knew in drastic ways, or even lead to unforeseen circumstances. He still did not know just what he could do now that he was fateless.
He was sure that he would be able to shift events, but he doubted that everything would change completely, seeing as he was just one person, and the fates of other people were still intact. So instead of immersing himself in these convoluted thoughts, he thought of what to do right now.
'I want to see them…'
He was terrified. He wanted to see his friends again, he wanted to feel comforted. He had no idea what was going to happen now.
But, he decided against it.
Sunny still needed to survive.
So he would grow his strength first.
Firstly, he needed to regain the Shadow Dance, he hadn't unlocked it yet, but he was sure if he practiced the movements he'd be able to unlock it again.
'Will I get Shadow's lineage this time?'
Seeing as how he still had Weaver's lineage, he doubted it. The actions of the Divine seemed absolute, unable to be stopped even when moving through time. His actions of claiming Weaver's Forbidden Lineage happened even within the past.
But he still didn't understand how his [Child of Shadows] and [Spark of Divinity] remained evolved.
'If my attributes remained evolved, why couldn't I remain evolved? Damnation…'
Being in his dormant body, he felt uncomfortably weak. He could still feel his essence, but he couldn't quite control it. Maybe with time, he would even be able to awaken naturally as he had already experienced being an Ascended and knew how to control his essence especially well.
Sunny finished clothing himself and left the washroom to see the government agent from earlier waiting outside for him.
"Are you ready to le-"
"I'm hungry"
The agent, still unperturbed, motioned him to follow as they walked to another room, where he was given some choices of food from a refrigerator.
***
Sunny sat eating, as the agent sat across from him, waiting with a patient smile.
'This guy sure is creepy, who even smiles that much!'
"What are you thinking about, Sleeper Sunless?"
'...'
"Just that you uh… smile a lot."
"Oh! People do mention that I do that a lot, is it weird?"
Sunny nodded slightly
"...A little."
Sunny looked down at his mostly finished plate, and slid it forward, his appetite fading.
"Are you finished?"
Sunny nodded.
"Alright then, as per protocol, I am obligated to inform you of a few things… For example, the First Nightmare isn't an easy trial, so all Awakened are given free psychological counseling, no matter what traumatic experiences you've had. There's no shame in asking for help, young man!"
Sunny shook his head.
"I'll pass."
The agent nodded.
"Well you can talk to me if you'd li-"
"I'll pass."
The agent smiled again.
"Well then, there are also some other protocols concerning your family but…"
The agent looked him up and down.
"I don't think that applies to you."
Sunny nodded again.
Then, unable to endure this useless conversation any longer, he abruptly stood up.
"Can I go now? To the academy I mean."
The agent smiled one last.
"Alright! The PTV is already here so you can leave at any time, good luck on your journey, Sleeper Sunless!"
***
'I didn't even ask for the guy's name…'
Sunny was immersed in his own thoughts as he sat in the back of the PTV.
'What am I gonna do now?'
He felt lost. He stretched his shadow sense outwards, its radius lengthened now that his mind had calmed down.
'It's farther than I remember.'
The range of his shadow sense, thanks to his [Lord of Shadows] attribute was a bit further despite the fact he was still a Dormant.
Sunny willed the shadows around him to move slightly, and they excitedly responded to his will as if it was their entire purpose.
'It's quite useless if I don't have Shadow Manifestation…'
He felt strange. The world encompassed by his shadow sense felt a little unfamiliar. He was still in the same place as he was when he first awakened, but the city had some differences, missing buildings here and there, shops and restaurants being different then he remembered.
Sunny thought of the future.
'Anvil, Song, and Asterion are definitely supremes by now…'
'Nephis should be about 7 years old…'
'Rain should be…'
'Wait… Rain!'
Had she been adopted by now at this point? Or had she just been left in the outskirts alone?!
Did the Sunny of this time even still exist?
'Calm down. Rain was definitely adopted by now…'
As for the past Sunny, he doubted he still existed, or perhaps he had been replaced by Sunny himself.
'Just how did this happen?'
Why was he left in this state, and this time? Everything was gone, but the traces of Weaver remained. What would he do now?
Should he stay hidden until the time was right, or should he try to shape the world in the way he wanted it to be?
Sunny's gaze darkened, the shadows around him swirled around in anticipation. And as Sunny was thinking deeply, he arrived at the academy.
Stepping up to the entrance, he looked at its massive, impenetrable red gates.
'It looks the same as I remember.'
Sunny glanced to his side.
Nobody was there.
Sunny sighed and walked in.
***
Entering the sleeper compound, Sunny extended his shadow sense as he looked around. He had a couple hours before the induction ceremony, so he waited idly, keeping to himself.
He did not want to slip us and reveal anything after all.
'I can't believe I have to deal with damn teenagers again' Sunny thought gloomily.
With his sullen looks and off-putting presence, nobody approached him, which was completely fine with Sunny as he picked the darkest corner to stand in.
'At least I won't be seen as some crazy pervert anymore.'
He would just be known as the creepy quiet guy instead.
Sunny looked around, assessing the strength of the Sleepers around him.
'This batch seems quite weak.'
He listened in on some of their conversations with his shadow, and he found that most people here weren't very impressive, and he doubted any of them had anything above an awakened aspect. There were only a couple minor legacies here and there, and those people were easily the most popular as people surrounded them as they showed off the special memories given to them by their parents.
'Hmph, I have a Divine Memory right here that's way more impressive!'
Despite his terrible mood, his pettiness remained.
Sunny waited patiently in the corner, thinking about what to do in the future. This time, he stood alone in the corpse corner.
'Seems Jet isn't here after all.'
Sunny closed his eyes and lowered his head, waiting for the ceremony to begin.
***
"...pers, welcome to the academy."
"Mu– Guh?"
Sunny snapped awake, sucking in the drool leaking from his mouth.
"In less than a month, you will be summoned to the Dream Realm. Some of you might think that you are well prepared. You're wrong. The Spell is merciless and cunning. The moment Awakened begin to think too much of themselves, they die. I've seen countless Sleepers like you lose their lives. I've also seen experienced Masters lose theirs. Even Saints are not assured to survive"
'Huh, it already started?'
He really fell asleep just like that…
"In the following four weeks, we will do everything in our power to increase your chances of survival. You will receive training from the best instructors in the world. However, don't be misled by their fame: in the end, whether you return from the Dream Realm alive depends only on one person — you. The responsibility to survive is yours, and yours alone"
Sunny stared at the instructor - who looked awfully familiar - standing on the stage with a deadpan look.
'This is the exact same speech I heard before… Do they read this crap off a script?'
And they hadn't even changed it even a little, 10 damn years later.
As the awakened on stage paused their speech for a moment.
Except for the Legacies, Sleepers were looking at each other with growing fear in their eyes.
"You are not children anymore. It's a shame, because you ought to be. But the Spell has decided otherwise. You have been to the First Nightmare, so you already know what it's like. Your parents, your teachers and your friends can't help you anymore…"
The Sunny of the past didn't care much about the speech, but now, it hit Sunny like a truck.
'There's nobody to help me anymore…'
His mood sunk even lower, as the awakened on stage who looked like a smaller and slightly less hairy Awakened Rock, continued:
"Now we will talk about the difference between Nightmares and the Dream Realm…"
Sunny scoffed silently, and began to tune out the speech. There were already few people who knew more about the Nightmare Spell and Dream Realm than him.
Sunny closed his eyes and leaned his head down once more, as he waited for the speech to end.