Silently rowing the wooden boat across the black river, Sunny felt like he was covered in a cloud of gloom as he made his way back.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Sunny had completely bared his soul to another human being. In their long conversation Silver had asked him many things. Sunny told him everything without holding back. For the first time, Sunny had revealed his deepest and darkest fears, the doubts clouding his mind, what he felt the reason for his being was, absolutely everything.
He had felt a slight pressure relieved from his shoulders, with someone else finally understanding his plight. But that person was gone the next moment, only a pile of ashes remaining on the ground.
As he made his way back through the tunnels, the gloom clouding his soul slowly subsided, making way for intense resolve instead.
Sunny took a deep breath, a small spark of passion burning within his heart.
'The future… is in my hands.'
Figuratively, and literally.
Speaking with Silver had caused Sunny to learn a lot about himself, as the best way to learn about yourself was to talk about yourself to another. One might not even realise why they thought a certain way until they tried to explain it to someone else.
It wasn't like Sunny was suddenly healed, with his mental state restoring to a pristine state or anything. But now, he felt somewhat differently. He wouldn't be stopped by something like this.
Of course this didn't stop the pain, but it had stopped Sunny from cursing himself. A little.
Thinking long and hard for several hours as he left the abandoned mine, Sunny found himself at the entrance once more, looking at the gap of the secret entrance leading to the outside.
...And currently, that entrance was covered in mist.
'Looks like I'm not leaving yet.'
Sunny sighed as he sat down, leaning against a wall.
He decided that he should check his new memories.
Memory: [Dawn Shard].
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: I
Memory Description: [As the Bright Lord crumbled to ash, -unknown- bent down to pick up the crown he had left behind, promising to finish what he started.]
'...'
'This…'
Why had the spell decided to mention him? And… -unknown-?
'Well, my name is blank in my runes after all. So then does the spell just… not know who I am?'
Then why did he still have access to it?
'It must have latched on to me anyways as I was in the midst of a First Nightmare, despite not recognizing my existence. Or maybe it never left to begin with?'
This was… actually not that bad to hear.
If he had regressed and immediately lost access to the spell as a Sleeper, he would have been royally screwed.
'Is this why I get so few memories then?'
Sunny was not sure how these two things correlated with one another, but he had yet to see evidence that said he was wrong.
'Oh well…'
Enchantments: [Sanctify].
Enchantment Description: [This memory bathes all other enchanted items within its range with its empowering light.]
'Four to go…'
He had received one more memory alongside a request from Silver.
But as he was about to take a look at it, the runes suddenly flashed white.
'Huh?'
Sunny blinked in confusion, not knowing what just happened. He stared at the runes of the
Dawn Shard, trying to see what just happened.
'...What?'
The description of the Dawn Shard… had changed.
Memory Description: [As the Bright Lord crumbled to ash, a lonely figure bent down to pick up the crown he had left behind, promising to finish what he started.]
'Why… why did it change?'
He had never seen a memory description just suddenly change like that!
He paused for a moment, thinking.
'I doubt the original description was about me retrieving the crown anyways… does the description of this Memory just change sometimes?'
Sunny rubbed his temples, feeling numb.
'So many… so many damn things today.'
He dismissed the runes, not wanting to think about it any longer before looking at the memory Silver had given him.
Memory: [Eternal Moment].
Sunny summoned it to take a look at it, not looking at its enchantments as it quite literally had none.
A glass frame appeared in his hand with an image contained. Within it, seven people were standing together, side by side. There were four young men, and three young women, each of them doing some sort of silly pose as they all had massive smiles upon their faces.
It was a photo of the first lord's cohort.
Silver had told him that it was once a one time use memory, not dissimilar to a disposable camera from Earth. It appeared as a simple lens with a string that you could pull to capture a moment in time, storing it within a glass frame.
As for Silver's request, it was to simply give it to Aria, and tell her he was sorry for leaving her behind.
Sunny was glad that he could at least do something for his friend after his death.
Alongside the Dawn Shard, these were the only two memories he had received from him, as all his other Memories had faded, the Spell seemingly considering him dead, with only the Memories he already had summoned remaining.
Giving the memory one last look, a small smile managed to find its way onto Sunny's face before he dismissed it.
Taking a deep breath, Sunny muttered to himself:
"...Let's change everything."
***
In the waking world, unbeknownst to Sunny…
A strange phenomenon had been occurring all across the world in the past months.
Oracles that peered into fate were no longer able to see the future, only receiving chaotic and messy visions that no one could decipher.
Awakened with a high affinity to fate suddenly found their abilities becoming unreliable.
It was as if fate was in disarray.
…Somewhere, in an empty house in NQSC, a man rubbed his face in deep thought.
His terrifying presence radiated throughout the surrounding area as he muttered to himself:
"How curious."
…In a frozen wasteland, a colossal golem of flesh was battling several terrifying abominations, rivers of blood pouring all across the land.
…Within a castle built of dark cobblestone, the clangor of a hammer hitting an anvil could be heard, embers scattering across every corner.
…And within an endless sea of twilight and mist, a lone man swam in the water, humming a quiet tune.
***
Once the mist receded, Sunny left.
He was currently on the back of Shrike, flying back to the Dark City. He had already been gone for several days now, and he needed to go back to check on their progress.
But currently, on Shrike's back, Sunny was meditating.
Why? Because he was trying to control his shadow essence.
Sunny wasn't trying to awaken naturally or anything as he doubted he had enough time to unseal Shadow Step before they besieged the Crimson Spire. He was only trying to gain basic control of his essence, then he would be able to use the active enchantments of memories, as well as give him an all around increase in strength.
Constantly summoning and unsummoning the Soul Serpent, Sunny tried to identify exactly how [Shadow Guide] helped him, attempting to figure out how it helped him move his essence. But currently, Sunny was having no luck.
Over the course of several days, Sunny continued trying, only stopping his training to attempt to sleep. But eventually, he arrived back at the Dark City.
'Ah, so much work to do…'
As it was nighttime currently, Sunny flew straight onto the roof of the Bright Castle without fear of being noticed. Making his way in, Sunny was searching for a certain person.
Of course, that person was the second Bright Lord, Aria.
Entering the Bright Castle unseen, Sunny's shadow sense spotted her inside her personal quarters, so Sunny made his way over. Extending his shadow sense into the room, he found that Aria was currently sitting at her desk, with her hands clasped and head down.
'She's awake?'
Sunny planned to sneak into her room and give her a scare to test her instincts, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.
Softly knocking on her door, Sunny said in a low voice:
"It's me."
Aria seemed to jolt back to her senses, immediately unclasping her hands and turning to the door.
"Come in."
Opening the door, Sunny walked in just to see Aria staring at him intensely.
"What happened?"
Aria's gaze churned with rage, as she spoke with barely restrained anger.
"You. Did you kill him?"
Sunny looked at her, confused.
"Kill who?"
"Silver."
Sunny's jaw dropped open, utterly confused.
"N- Urgh!"
Sunny suddenly clutched his head in pain, his Flaw triggering.
In between breaths, Sunny spoke again.
"...Yes."
'What is going on?! How did she know?!'
He had instinctually said no because in his mind, he had not killed Silver. But then he remembered — yes he did! He plunged a blade straight through his skull no less!
Sunny realised what Aria was feeling right now.
'Oh no… Oh no no no…'
Were his efforts going to go to waste because of a misunderstanding?!
But luckily, Aria was a reasonable woman, she didn't want to declare Sunny an enemy before knowing the whole truth.
"Why?"
"...He asked me to."
"Bullshit. Why?"
"It's the truth."
"Why would he ask you to kill him? What happened?"
Glad that he was getting a chance to explain himself, Sunny took a deep breath before explaining to her what happened.
***
Aria had a hand on her forehead, a look of despair in her eyes.
"Silver… you-... you were still out there, all this time?"
Tears streamed down her face, as she realised just how much her friend had suffered, all alone with no one else to share the burden.
"Sunless I-"
"Relax, I don't blame you for misunderstanding. But… how did you know I killed him?"
"Oh, that. My aspect tells me how many people are sworn under my oath, and well… one of the oaths from my original cohort still remained. All this time, I had no idea who it was, and where they were, but when you said you knew where to get the Dawn Shard and suddenly disappeared, I-... I saw the number go down, and assumed the worst. I had thought that either you died on the way to retrieve it, or you somehow found Silver and killed him for it… and when I heard you return just now, I thought that… I- Please forgive me, Sunless."
Sunny nodded at her, somewhat impressed with her deduction skills.
"Calm down, that was a completely reasonable reaction."
Aria took a deep breath before she sighed in relief.
"Alright… well, I also wanted to say… I trust you now."
That made Sunny's eyes widen in surprise.
"What? Why?"
"Well… just now when you tried to say no and suddenly clutched your head in pain, I realised that it only happened when you tried to lie to me… So, your Flaw must be that you can't lie, right?"
Sunny blinked.
'Okay. Wow.'
He was now very impressed with her deduction skills.
Sunny did not mind revealing his flaw now that he had no true name and thus could not be subjugated through Shadow Bond. Plus, although it pained him to reveal his secrets, Sunny had seen Aria's true character as well as her very useful aspect, so she would definitely be someone he wanted to keep as a close ally.
Sunny responded amicably, glad to earn her trust.
"That's right… impressive deduction."
Aria nodded, clearly proud of herself.
"Well, since I know your flaw, you should also know mine."
Sunny's eyes widened, as he tried to stop her.
"You really don't have t-"
"I cannot fight without a weapon"
Sunny's shoulders dropped.
"...Okay."
"If I am ever disarmed, or my weapon memory is destroyed, I am as good as dead. Also my Aspect rank i-"
"Okay! Okay! You don't have to tell me anymore, I'm glad I was able to earn your trust!"
Hearing him say this, Aria stopped, slowly letting out one more sigh of relief.
"Alright… Thank you Sunless."
"Sunny."
"Hm?"
"My friends call me Sunny."
He shuddered inwardly.
'Ah… why did I just say that?'
"Ok… Sunny. What now?"
"Give me a report on how everything has gone so far."
"Alright! So far…
***
After hearing Aria list off the things they had accomplished, Sunny was greatly satisfied. The Sleepers had all shown remarkable growth, and their alliance of benefits had turned into a true camaraderie.
'Ah, having reliable min- allies! Having reliable allies is just wonderful...'
Listening to Aria finish the last of her report, Sunny gave her a nod.
"Well done, spread the news of your accomplishments among the sleepers, and hold another initiation next week."
"Understood."
"Also, did you ask about the shard memories?"
"O-oh, well actually uhm. I had one of them actually, please forgive me for not telling you earlier… I hope you understand!"
She grabbed his shoulder, quickly sending him a memory.
[You have received a memory]
Sunny nodded in understanding, he actually already knew she had one, the Zenith Shard, as Effie had once told him that the Zenith Shard was originally received by the second lord of the Bright Castle before it was passed down to her teacher, who passed it down to her.
The fact that Aria had summoned it right in front of him a few days earlier may have also helped in his deduction.
The reason he did not confront her was because he didn't want to unintentionally push her away.
"Is that everything?"
Seeing Aria nod, Sunny thought to himself:
'Just three to go.'
Now all that was left was the Starlight Shard, the Moonlight Shard, and the Sunlight Shard. Sunny knew the whereabouts of what he needed to kill to obtain the Moonlight and Starlight Shards and he had already made contact with the statute of the Stranger and the Priestess, but he had no idea where the Sunlight Shard could be, he could only make contact with the statue of the Builder and hope he received the shard from a killing powerful nightmare creature. It had once belonged to Seishan, but she was always extremely tight-lipped about what she had done in the Forgotten Shore prior to Sunny's arrival.
"Everything is forgiven, I understand why you didn't trust me at the time"
Aria seemed relieved he wasn't angry, but Sunny knew she was barely holding herself together currently after she had just learned about the death of her friend.
"I'll leave you to it then, but first, let me give you this."
Grabbing her shoulder, Sunny transferred the Eternal Moment to her.
"T-This is…"
Aria stammered, recognizing the name.
"Silver asked me to tell you: I'm sorry for leaving you behind."
Having done what had been asked of him, Sunny left.
He did not want to witness such a deeply personal moment, as he was not such a tactless person.
Hearing Aria fall to her knees as he closed the door, Sunny left her to grieve in private.
***
High in the sky, Sunny looked down at a massive grotesque and misshapen skull, laying on the ground below. From his memories, Sunny had once seen this place marked on Cassie and Nephis' map of the Forgotten Shore.
This was where they had obtained the Moonlight Shard, no doubt.
Descending a bit to get a better look, Sunny saw something wriggling within one of the eye sockets of the skull.
Dismissing Shrike, Sunny glided down into the shadow of the skull to see what the wriggling mass was.
'Gross.'
it seemed to be a grey mass of wriggling flesh that had been impaled a hundred times over. On its back, he counted around a hundred swords sticking out, all of them varying with how deep they were lodged within the beast.
'An Awakened Tyrant.'
This was his target.
Sunny watched some more, seeing how the wriggling of the Tyrant also resonated with the swords sticking out its back, creating a horrible tune. Deciding not to approach it directly, he opted to throw a spear at it instead.
Identifying what he thought to be the Tyrant's head, Sunny summoned Serpent in the shape of a spear. Wrapping two shadows around himself, Sunny reared his arm back before snapping it forward with all his strength, wrapping both shadows around the spear as it left his hand before shooting straight towards the tyrant's head.
The spear pierced the tyrant's head, nearly decapitating it as it barely hung on by a thread of flesh, completely unable to react.
Sunny was not worried in the slightest, as in the next moment the spear transformed into a mighty serpent that began to ferociously attack the hideous abomination. The abomination attempted to fight back, the swords lodged in its back began to slide out one by one, levitating as they aimed to attack Serpent.
But it was already too late.
Opening its jaws wide, Serpent delivered a crushing bite to the already severely injured head of the tyrant, killing it in an instant.
[You have slain an Awakened Tyrant, Blade Garden.]
[You have received a memory.]
'...A garden? That thing? No way…'
A red gem gleaming on his forehead, Sunny inspected his memory list to make sure he obtained the Moonlight Shard, he thought to himself:
'Two to go.'
***
Sunny found himself at the entrance of a vast underground chamber.
"Is this the place?"
A group of 35 people followed behind him.
Nearly two months had passed since Sunny arrived in the Dark City, and he had decided that Sleepers here were powerful enough so that he could move his plan forward.
"Indeed. Within beneath this statue is a vast burial chamber. That is where the Lord of the Dead resides."
The sleepers, led by Aria and her cohort nodded. Sunny had told her only to bring the strongest and most skilled combatants she knew, and was pleasantly surprised to see her bring so many.
'She's done well.'
Aria and her cohort had around the same strength as the lieutenants of the future Bright Castle, while Aria herself, Sunny assumed her to be a decent amount stronger than Effie, her strength was probably around Sunny's or Nephis' back when they were Sleepers, considering the fact that she had spent five years here by this point.
Sunny thought this way because she had told him the power of her oath was now at its maximum, her aspect had been brought to its full potential, and could no longer swear in new members.
This left out about a quarter of the Sleepers of the Bright Castle, but Sunny did not see this as a waste. As after the first trial selection, she had become a lot more careful about choosing who entered their oath, only picking the people she judged to either be strong or possess powerful mental fortitude.
Many of the castle's current residents were weak, as they had just hidden within the castle as the ones who were willing to fight kept it clear of nightmare creatures.
'At least we're not fighting each other this time.'
Despite their weakness, all of them remained together. There was definitely some animosity and resentment, but it wasn't an unforgivable hatred or anything like that.
As the group of Sleepers made their way into the underground chamber, they all had looks of resolve. Every last one of them were willing to fight to the death if it meant having even the smallest chance of escaping this hell. All of them believed in Aria, as she had shown her power and strength of character.
"Caelum, Percival, Charlotte, you three will be our ranged artillery, use your aspects to keep its hands off us, or warn us through the oath if we are in a bad spot."
"Understood."
The Sleepers were a lot less reverant now, instead treating Aria as their leader rather than a queen. This was a result of their constant battles together. With such a strong camaraderie forming, it was easy for them to discard the honorifics they had once used for each other.
"Stralis, Aevis, Enna, with me. The rest of you, destroy its minion and attack the tyrant in any way you can. If its core is destroyed, we win."
"Understood!"
"Alright, let's move!"
As they began to move in, an exchange between Sunny and Aria went unseen.
"Summon the memory I gave you."
"Now?"
"Yes."
Aria nodded, before a whirlwind of sparks gathered around her head as a silver band with a red gem appeared.
The sleepers looked in awe at the Crown of Dawn.
"Incredible!"
"This power…"
Many of them muttered praises as they checked out their now enhanced memories.
'With this, we should be able to do it.'
As this time there was no bone-eating vine to severely weaken the monster, it was definitely going to be more difficult, but with this miniature army with them, Sunny was sure they would win.
And as the sleepers made it to the underground chamber, the mountain of bones moved.
The group tensed, watching the lumbering tyrant intensely.
And as it raised its maw, it let out a roar.
The Sleepers did not hear, but they did feel it. A deep, unsettling vibration rattled their bones.
But the fear did not stop them.
Aria yelled as they rushed forward, the group of fighters followed closely behind. Sunny also entered the chamber unseen, readying the Soul Serpent.
***
The Dreamers fought with ferocity. Countless bony hands and maggots were everywhere, but they continued to fight with practiced teamwork. As they fought, no one said a word. Their coordination was perfect without any of them needing to speak, as they communicated with their minds.
A sleeper knocked away a bony limb, before another massive limb fell from above. But seconds before the sleeper was crushed into a pulp, a string of energy appeared on their back as they were yanked backwards by one of the supporting archers.
A group of sleepers led by a tough looking woman with black hair were facing the tyrant directly, a large man at the front taking the worst of the blocks with a steel tower shield.
And a lone sleeper stood unseen on a small ledge above the tyrant, readying a spear.
And as the tyrant staggered after it had missed a particularly heavy swing…
BOOM!
THe spear shot forward, shooting straight towards the maggot at the core of human skulls within the bone heap.
And as the spear pierced straight through it, the tyrant went still for a moment… and then shuddered before it crumbled into a useless pile of bones.
The Sleepers went silent for a moment, before erupting into cheers.
"We did it!"
"Hahaha! A Fallen Tyrant isn't so much after all!"
Aria let out a sigh of relief as she relaxed.
"Well done everyone. Finish off the rest of its minions, then let's retrieve the soul shards and get
the hell out of this place."
"Understood!"
***
[You have slain a Fallen Tyrant, Parasitic Bonetwiner.]
[...Your shadows grow stronger.]
[You have received a Memory.]
'One to go…'
Sunny dropped down from the ledge, paying no attention to the celebrating Sleepers.
He was looking for something else.
'Where are you… Where are y-. Found it.'
Within the pile of dead bones, he found a key.
Without Fated, he couldn't feel the presence of divinity like he did before, but since he already knew where the key was it was no problem to find it. It was the key that led to the basement with Weaver's Mask.
Putting it away, Sunny moved to help the sleepers finish off the rest of the tyrant's minions.
Most of the sleepers paid no attention to him. In fact, most of them didn't even know him or remember him, as he had only really appeared before the people of the Dark City once. No one doubted a scout hand-picked by Aria herself though.
As the Sleepers left the vast underground chamber, chatting and laughing in celebration, Sunny trailed behind him.
'They didn't even enter the Catacombs… Well I guess it's because the entrance is currently sealed shut.'
As the cohort with Effie's teacher had never made their way through it, the secret entrance to the underground chamber remained hidden.
Sighing, Sunny checked his new memory.
Memory: [Starlight Shard]
Memory Type: Garment.
Memory Rank: Ascended.
Memory Tier: V
Memory Enchantments: [Empower].
Enchantment Description: [This memory empowers the users strength, speed, and survivability.]
'Not bad'
Sunny summoned it, the familiar flowing white cloak appeared around his shoulders.
'Ugh… Does it have to be white? This is far too eye-catching!'
As the group made it back to the Dark City, Sunny made his way to Aria.
"I'll be taking that memory back now."
"...Alright."
As she returned the Dawn Shard to him, Sunny sent her two memories.
Aria's eyes widened, as Sunny had returned the Zenith Shard, as well as giving her the Starlight Shard.
"You're giving these to me? Why?"
Sunny rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment.
"Well, the Zenith Shard… It was yours anyways, and I already have a good weapon!"
"And the Starlight Shard? Ahh well, it's just… well… It's too ugly! How am I supposed to be stealthy when I'm wearing such a bright cloak?! It suits you much better."
Aria gave him a deadpan stare, choosing to not respond to his ridiculous statement.
***
Sunny sat meditating atop Shrike's back as they flew through the air.
'Just… just where is this damn thing!'
As he was still trying to control his shadow essence, he had his shadows on the lookout.
Far below them, a giant was walking across the Forgotten Shore. It was the statue of the Builder.
Sunny had been following it for several days now, hoping to find which nightmare creature might grant him the Sunlight Shard, but he found nothing.
As Sunny grew frustrated, both by the fact his shadow essence refused to follow his command and by the fact he couldn't find the last shard memory, a vein on his forehead became more and more pronounced.
He had just over three weeks before his self imposed deadline, and he did not like how much time he was wasting doing this.
And so, Sunny made his way back to the Dark City.
He had a strong suspicion that the Sunlight Shard was already in someone else's hands.
***
Sunny observed a small group of sleepers hunting within the Dark City.
It was Song Seishan, and what seemed to be the founding members of the Handmaidens.
They were all attacking a single Awakened Demon as Sunny watched from the shadows.
By now, even the most cowardly of Sleepers had joined the cause, getting ready to siege the Crimson Spire. Though it was not because they had suddenly become brave, but rather, they were afraid of being left behind.
The Sleepers who had joined Aria had grown at a frightening rate, with all of them becoming much stronger as many of them even had fully saturated cores. Sunny was happy with their progress, and at this rate the Dark City would run out of nightmare creatures to kill in about a week or two, forcing the sleepers to start hunting the surrounding labyrinth around the Dark City instead of the ones within its walls.
This was also in part due to Sunny's efforts, as many of the dangerous Fallen had already been killed by him, with the exception of the Forsaken Knight, as Sunny did not yet want to deal with it yet.
Sunny continued to observe the sleepers through the periphery of his shadow sense, not wanting to trigger the sharp senses of Seishan.
'...I knew it!'
As the fight began to grow more desperate as the Demon seemed to be able to grow more powerful after being severely wounded, Seishan had summoned a memory.
The Sunlight Shard.
A graceful warhammer appeared within the woman's hands as she dashed forward, breaking the Demon's skull apart with a single blow.
The girls breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the fight was over.
As Seishan dismissed her weapon, wiping away the sweat on her forehead, she suddenly sensed a presence approaching them.
She turned, seeing a pale young man walking towards slowly. Seishan motioned for her two cohort members to stay behind her.
'This one smells… dangerous.'
Sunny smiled slightly as he greeted them.
"Greetings, Song Seishan."
"...You are?"
"Sunless, one of Aria's scouts."
"You… I know you, you were the first…"
'She remembered that? Not bad…'
"So, what do you want?"
"What do you think?"
Seishan's gaze darkened, clearly knowing what he was talking about.
"Why should I hand over the Sunlight Shard to you? I earned it myself, and it wasn't easy to get, you know?"
Sunny laughed a bit as he continued to talk.
"Well, I don't actually want it. I just need it temporarily, I'll return it once I'm done."
Sunny really did not want to force her to give it to him, as antagonizing Clan Song was probably one of the dumbest possible things he could do.
"Why should I believe that?"
With a grin, Sunny tossed her a bag.
Looking at the bag that had landed by her feet, Seishan looked at him in slight suspicion.
"What's in it?"
"Money."
Seishan frowned.
'Money?'
Suddenly realising what he was talking about, she quickly opened the bag.
It was filled with about fifty glimmering soul shards.
"There's about fifty ascended soul shards in there, you can hold it as collateral."
Seishan was unable to hide her greed for it, looking at him dangerously.
"And if I don't get the Sunlight Shard back?"
"You'll get another fifty."
"Deal."
Walking up to her, they shook hands.
[You have received a Memory.]
'And that's the last of them.'