"People of Aleras, look up. This night was not meant to rule you. The darkness believed you would endure it in silence. It believed you were small."
She paused, and in that breathless moment the city seemed to hold itself still, thousands of hearts pounding in anticipation, eyes lifted, hands clenched tightly.
"It was wrong."
The words struck like a bell. Cheers exploded outward, raw and unrestrained, rolling through the streets in a thunderous wave. Voices cried out her name, some in worship, some in awe, some simply in relief, as the people hailed their Goddess without shame nor restraint.
Her voice rose to meet them, clear and commanding, carrying both iron authority and fierce devotion. "You built this beacon with weary hands and unbroken will. Stone by stone, you told the night no more, and I heard you." She gestured toward the towering flame. "This light is not one meant to comfort, but to warn. Where it shines, fear has nowhere to hide. Where it stands, this city endures."
The crowd erupted anew. Chants surged upward, voices breaking and reforming, a living hymn of reverence and defiance. Tears glimmered on faces hardened by years of struggle. Strangers clasped hands, shouting themselves hoarse, united by something greater than survival.
The Lady raised her arms high, and the lighthouse answered. Its beam flared brighter, purer, slicing through the darkness and driving it back as though the night itself recoiled.
"Let travelers see it and know safety," she proclaimed. "Let enemies see it and think twice. Stand tall. Walk unafraid." She paused once more, her presence filling the air, her voice swelling with divine certainty. "For as long as this light burns…"
The silence sharpened, electric and absolute.
"…I stand with you."
The roar of the crowd still echoed far away from them, reaching the quiet balcony of a suburban house, where a man and a woman were watching from afar while enjoying some refreshments.
"Wow," Sunny said, slow and impressed. "Really leaned into it there. 'Where it shines, fear has nowhere to hide?' Chills. Absolute chills."
The Lady froze, still staring at her divine avatar perform her speech. Then she shot him a glare sharp enough to cut steel.
"Don't you dare," she muttered darkly.
Sunny grinned, utterly unrepentant. "I'm just saying, if you ever retire from godhood, you have a future in inspirational speeches."
She pinched the bridge of her nose. The beam of the lighthouse dimmed a fraction, as if embarrassed on her behalf. "I did not write that."
Sunny blinked. "You didn't?"
"No," she muttered dejectedly. "There was a committee."
"A committee," he repeated, utterly delighted.
"Yes. Six priests, two architects, and one man who insisted on rhyming darkness with sparkness." She exhaled slowly, exhaustion settling deep. "I vetoed that part."
Sunny laughed, the sound bright and entirely too amused for the divine spectacle unfolding far away from them. "Could have fooled me. You sold it."
She glanced back at the crowd, still chanting, still glowing with borrowed courage, and her expression softened despite herself. "That's the problem. If I don't sell it, they think something's wrong."
"So you ham it up," he said. "For morale."
"For morale," she agreed dryly. Then she added, quieter, "And because they need to believe someone planned for all of this. That there is someone watching over them. That I care enough to think about their comfort."
Sunny followed her gaze, watching the people cheer beneath the spreading light. "Don't you?"
She considered her answer for a moment. "I do," she admitted, but then her gaze lowered, mumbling beneath her breath. "I only wish someone would care enough to do the same for me."
His hand found hers, squeezing softly, hoping to transmit with the quiet gesture that he did. That he was here, in that very moment. That she would not be alone as long as she had him.
The Lady smiled, bright and unguarded, and Sunny thought that the lighthouse could not even come close to the radiance she emitted.
Sunny nudged her shoulder. "Still. Pretty good speech."
She glared. "Next time, you're writing it."
-------------------------------------------
The wind carried the stench of rot and blood across the field, heavy and cloying. The ground ahead of them shook as nightmarish shapes advanced. They had too many limbs, too many eyes, too many teeth. Their bodies looked as if stitched together by malice and hunger.
The horde advanced like a living tide, shrieks and chittering cries bleeding into one another until they became a single, maddening sound.
Sunny tightened his grip on the shadow forged odachi. He allowed himself a second to look back at the tower behind him before returning his gaze to the incoming danger.
By his side, Saint stood proud and regal, as if she had been born for this very battle.
Her shield rested against her arm, heavy and solid. The stone sword was planted casually against the ground, her posture relaxed, almost bored. If the approaching horde inspired anything in her, it was not fear.
Sunny inhaled slowly, shadows curling tighter around his body, responding to his focus. "Well," he muttered, eyes fixed forward, "this is going to take a while."
Saint turned her helmeted head just enough to look at him. Her expression was hidden behind the metallic sheet, but he could feel the weight of her gaze anyway.
Even though she said nothing, he could still tell what she meant.
Sunny snorted quietly, lips twitching despite himself. "I'm not going to leave this to you. I'm a Transcendent now, and even if I weren't, you cannot keep protecting me forever."
The stare she gave him seemed to say that she believed otherwise.
He snorted once more, and too quick for her to react, gave her a hug.
"I appreciate it, Saint," he said honestly, voice full of warmth. "But I refuse to hide behind you forever. I have already done it for far too long."
He could feel her stiffening between his arms, her body radiating embarrassment. He stayed like that for a little longer before letting go, smiling brightly upon seeing her refusal to meet his eyes.
"You are cute when you are embarrassed."
She punched him in the arm. Hard.
For answer, Sunny laughed. "One of these days I'll make you break that silence of yours."
Acting like nothing had happened, Saint raised her shield and knocked her sword against it once. The sound rang out, solid and confident. A challenge thrown at the world.
Returning his gaze to the incoming horde, he determined that they had a minute left before the first nightmare creature would reach them.
Sunny shot her a look. "Do you want to make a bet about who defeats more of them?"
She inclined her head, just a fraction.
He chuckled. "What should we bet on this time? Loser buys dinner? Patrol duty for a week? Loser has to listen to Effie brag about herself for an entire evening?"
Saint lifted her free hand and made a slicing motion. Then she pointed very deliberately toward the distant tower. And then, after a brief pause, she pointed at Sunny.
His eye twitched.
"No," he said flatly.
Saint's shoulders rose in the faintest shrug.
Sunny pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache starting to take shape. "I am not breaking up with her."
She tilted her head again.
"There is nothing to break up," he snapped, throwing his arms up into the air, exasperation bleeding through his voice. "We. Are. Not. Dating. How many times do I have to say it before it sticks?"
Saint remained silent. Somehow, it made it worse.
Sunny glanced at her. "Why do you even hate her so much?"
She looked back at him silently, her expression unreadable behind that helmet.
"You're unbelievable," he muttered.
The ground shuddered as the first ranks of nightmare creatures surged closer, their howls rising to a fever pitch.
Sunny exhaled slowly, refocusing on the problem ahead. He called, and his shadows answered, obedient and familiar, half wrapping around himself while the other half coiled around Saint.
He allowed himself to stare one final time at the tower, and then cast away all stray thoughts from his mind.
They had a tough battle ahead. He could interrogate his taciturn elder sister later.
-------------------------------------------
The pitter patter of rain struck the window in a steady, rhythmic pattern. It was a light rain, barely more than a mist, yet persistent enough to leave faint, winding trails as droplets chased one another down the glass. The sound should have been soothing, the sort of gentle cadence meant to lull the mind into rest, but it set Sunny on edge all the same.
"Why do you hate the rain so much?" she asked softly.
Sunny blinked, pulled abruptly from his spiraling thoughts. He turned toward her, finding her seated nearby with effortless grace. They had just finished a light spar, and were currently resting, or rather, he was. Sweat clung to his skin and his muscles still hummed with exertion, while she looked as though she had not lifted a finger.
"I… don't?" he said, frowning. "What do you mean?"
She shrugged, the motion easy and unguarded, and passed him a bottle of water. He accepted it without thinking twice, greedily twisting the cap loose and taking a long drink.
"You always get that look when it rains," she revealed. "Like it has personally wronged you."
Sunny followed her gaze back to the window. As he watched the rain slide down the glass, something dark stirred in his stomach. He had not noticed it before -had not wanted to- but now the sensation bloomed with unpleasant clarity. His grip tightened around the bottle.
A faint slosh of water drew his attention downward. His hands were shaking. Not subtly, either. The tremor was strong enough to make the bottle wobble.
Sunny sucked in a breath and exhaled slowly, forcing the air from his lungs as he tried to smother the surge of emotion rising inside him. Anger. Fear. Pulsing faintly in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Before it could grow any more, she moved.
The Lady approached, her footsteps soundless. Warmth radiated from her like a fire on a cold night, washing over him in gentle waves. Almost immediately, the foreign emotions began to recede, dulled and softened as though wrapped in a thick cloth. The rage ebbed. The fear unraveled. What remained felt distant, unimportant, an echo of something that no longer mattered.
She opened her arms in silent invitation.
Sunny did not hesitate. He stepped into her embrace easily, head resting against her shoulder as she drew him close. The lingering unease dissolved completely, replaced by a deep, almost aching sense of comfort. He felt safe. Like he belonged there.
"It reminds me of a nightmare I had once," he admitted quietly.
Her fingers slid into his hair, combing through it with slow, tender strokes. Each touch sent a pleasant warmth through his chest.
"In it," he continued, staring past her shoulder and through the window, "I traveled through a land drowned by endless rain. It never stopped, never even slowed. I fought through battle after battle against things that still make my blood freeze." His voice lowered. "Saint and Serpent were there, but they felt distant, almost like shadows."
His voice carried an emotion he could not quite name. Grief, perhaps. Or exhaustion so deep it had sunk into his bones.
"I don't know how long I wandered that place," he went on. "Days. Years. It all blurred together. I just remember how much I hated it." His fingers twitched against her back. "The despair. The sorrow. The constant feeling that I would die there, alone and forgotten."
Her arms tightened around him, pulling him closer still, until the rain and the room and everything else seemed far away.
"It's okay," she murmured, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head. "I'm here."
Her voice was calm. Certain.
"No nightmare will ever reach you here."
And as the rain continued to fall beyond the glass, Sunny believed her.
And yet, his eyes still followed the beam of light atop the tower.
-------------------------------------------
Sunny stepped back, easily dodging the spear thrust aimed at him.
His assailant, not deterred in the slightest, stabbed forward once more. The tip of the spear passed mere millimeters from his nose. He retaliated swiftly, the odachi in his hand a black blur as he delivered a sharp slash to the haft, cutting deep into the wood.
What followed was a series of flashing strikes, each faster and deadlier than the last.
Sunny met every single one without hesitation, parrying where he could and dancing away when he could not.
They continued exchanging blows for a little longer, but in the end, the result was inevitable. The spear, already weakened by his earlier strike, snapped in half, and before his opponent could recover, Sunny pointed the odachi at her throat.
"So you want to impale me with your long, hard sword, huh?"
Sunny rolled his eyes and dispelled the weapon. "Can you not?"
Effie laughed and patted him on the back, looking entirely too pleased with herself despite the defeat.
"Sooooo…" she said slowly, almost relishing the way he stiffened, "how's it going with your girlfriend?"
He did not need to look at her face to know there was an annoying grin plastered on it.
"I don't have a girlfriend," he replied in a long suffering voice.
"Not with that attitude, that's for sure."
He groaned. "I don't remember asking for advice."
"A good friend does not need to be asked." She nodded sagely.
He rolled his eyes harder, then, unable to hold it back any longer, laughed.
"One of these days, you'll be the one getting teased. And it's going to be glorious," he promised.
The huntress shrugged nonchalantly and threw an arm over his shoulder, pulling him tight against her side.
"You are a hundred years too young for that, Doofus." She nodded sagely once more, like a grand scholar lecturing a particularly slow student.
Sunny jabbed an elbow into her side, but failed to dislodge her. He tried again, with the same lack of success.
"Let go of me, you brute," he muttered.
If anything, her embrace grew tighter.
"Hey, Sunny…"
Effie calling him by his actual name, and hesitating before speaking her mind? That was an event so rare it bordered on the mythic.
"What is it?" he asked, his voice tinged with trepidation.
Her hold tightened further, and from the corner of his eye, Sunny saw her head draw closer, stopping just beside his ear.
"When are you going to wake up?" The question sounded casual, almost innocent.
It did nothing to stop the spike of wrongness that stabbed straight into his heart.
His breath hitched. "I'm awake."
The embrace became painful.
She answered immediately. "You are not."
"What do you mean?" The words came out weak, almost fearful.
"You know what I mean." There was no warmth left in her voice.
The wrongness surged. The training ground felt strange. Too still. The distant sounds of steel clashing, Ascended Dismas's shouts, the ever present chittering of many feet hitting the ground, they had all disappeared, replaced by an eerie silence. The silence of a tomb.
"Effie," he said carefully, "you're hurting me."
She did not loosen her grip.
Instead, her voice dropped lower, closer, until it felt like it was speaking from inside his skull. "You've been doing this for a long time now."
His pulse thundered. "Doing what?"
"Running." Her breath was warm against his ear. "Pretending that there is nothing wrong."
Sunny struggled, finally managing to twist just enough to look at her.
Her face was still Effie's, but something about her eyes was wrong. Too still. Too aware.
"This isn't funny," he said.
She smiled. It did not reach her eyes.
"I know."
The world around them flickered, just for a moment, like a reflection disturbed by a stone. The ground rippled. The ceiling lights dimmed. Silver tendrils unfurled, careful stitches breaking apart before his very eyes. For a moment, he spotted a fraying canvas, covered in hastily patched tears.
Sunny's chest tightened.
"Wake up," Effie whispered one last time.
A silver flash covered his vision, and suddenly, he was alone.
The wrongness had disappeared, but the unease lingered.
His eyes drifted upward, in the direction he knew the lighthouse to be.
-------------------------------------------
"What do you think about this dress?"
Sunny lowered the book he had been reading, one finger still marking the sentence he was at, while his eyes lifted despite himself. The moment he actually saw her, his thoughts scattered like leaves on the wind.
He did not need a mirror to know his face had gone completely red.
The dress clung to her in a way that felt intentional, every line, every fold chosen with care. It shimmered softly in the light, catching the eye no matter where he tried to look. Sunny immediately dropped his gaze, staring very hard at the page in his hands, though the words had stopped making sense.
The soft giggle that followed told him she had not missed his reaction. Not even a little.
"It… suits you," he said, the words tumbling out in an awkward rush. He kept his eyes firmly averted, as though looking any longer might actually set him on fire.
She hummed thoughtfully, clearly unimpressed with his restraint. "In what way?" Her voice dipped into something slower, warmer, almost lazy. She took a slow turn in place, the skirt of the dress following the motion gracefully. When she stopped, she glanced over her shoulder at him, a knowing smirk playing at her lips.
Sunny swallowed. His throat felt impossibly dry all of a sudden.
"In all of them," he murmured, barely louder than a breath.
Her laughter rang out, bright and delighted. Sunny reacted on instinct alone, snapping the book shut and hurling it in her direction. It flew with unerring precision, only for her to step aside effortlessly, the book sailing past where she had been standing a moment before. She did not stop laughing.
"Yes, yes, laugh at my misfortune," Sunny muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Despite himself, a smile tugged at his lips.
"My eyes are up here, you know," she said dryly, folding her arms.
He met her gaze flatly for half a second, then pointedly let his eyes drift right back down.
"Should have thought of that before wearing that dress."
For a heartbeat, she just stared at him. Then they both laughed, the sound warm and easy, filling the room with a joy that felt natural, effortless even. As if nothing in the world could ever intrude on moments like this.
And Sunny, still smiling, did not notice how easy it was to forget everything else.
-------------------------------------------
Sunny stood in silence on the battlement, his gaze fixed on the radiant crown of the lighthouse tower. The beam of light swept across the dark horizon in a slow, patient arc, cutting through mist and darkness alike. He followed it without thinking, his thoughts drifting in time with its movement.
There was something in that light. Something wordless and insistent. It pulled at something deep in his chest, evoking faint traces of an almost forgotten memory.
"You're always staring at the lighthouse," Kai said.
Sunny tore his eyes away and turned toward the archer. "Is there something wrong with that?"
Kai shrugged, shifting his weight. "Not really. But…"
"But what?"
The archer hesitated, fingers flexing nervously. "You always have that look when you do."
Sunny tilted his head, studying him askance. "What look?"
Kai grimaced. "It's your eyes," he said after a moment. "They look… hollow. Like there's something you want. Something you're desperate for." He swallowed. "But you don't even know what it is."
Sunny blinked, genuinely confused by the answer.
Him? Hollow? Desperate?
He followed Kai's gaze back to the tower. The beam washed over them again, warm and distant all at once, and for a fleeting moment something twisted painfully in his chest. The light reminded him of something. Of comfort. Of loss. Of a sweetness so sharp it bordered on agony.
"I don't feel desperate," Sunny said slowly.
Kai's expression tightened and he shook his head. "Remember my flaw?"
Sunny blinked again, the sudden shift catching him off guard. "Of course I do."
"Well," Kai said, voice low, "let me tell you something."
He hesitated, and only then did Sunny notice the way his hands were shaking.
"What you just said," Kai continued, "is a lie."
"What the Spell are you talking about?" Sunny snapped. "You know perfectly well that I cannot lie."
The words left his mouth easily. Too easily.
What… what was a Spell?
"That's the problem," Kai snapped back, and then, just as quickly, softened. "I don't think you are lying. I think something is wrong." He looked around them, eyes darting to the walls, the sky, the distant city lights. "I think everything is wrong."
A chill crept up Sunny's spine. He reached out and grabbed Kai by the shoulder, squeezing gently in what he hoped was reassurance.
"Are you alright?"
Kai glanced sideways, as if expecting someone to be listening. But they were alone on the battlement, the nearest guard far beyond earshot.
"My flaw…" Kai took a deep breath, steadying himself. "My flaw tells me that everything is a lie. This wall. This city." His voice dropped to a whisper. "The world itself."
Sunny's blood froze.
A sharp spike of wrongness stabbed into his mind, followed by a deep, throbbing headache that made him suck in a breath. He laughed despite himself, the sound brittle and a little too loud.
"Everything?" he echoed. "Kai, listen to yourself." He loosened his grip but did not quite let go. "You're just tired."
Even as he spoke, the ache behind his eyes pulsed in painful agreement.
The stones beneath his boots felt thin. As though they were a rug stretched over nothing. The air did not quite flow right, too still one moment and too sharp the next. The moon overhead felt uncomfortably close, looming in the sky like a silent observer.
Sunny swallowed. His throat was suddenly very dry.
Kai studied him closely, jaw set. "You don't believe that."
Sunny opened his mouth to argue, and stopped.
Pain flared behind his eyes, sharp as a nail driven too deep.
He forced himself to breathe again. Slowly. Carefully. "I think you're worrying over nothing."
Kai did not look away. "You don't believe that," he said again.
"No," Sunny snapped, more forcefully than he intended. He winced, then dragged a hand down his face. "No. I won't do this. I won't tear the world apart because something feels off." His voice trembled despite his attempts to keep it steady. "I won't let go of what little happiness I have found."
The words rang strangely in his ears, hollow and misplaced, as though they belonged to someone else.
Kai stared at him in silence. The moment stretched, heavy and suffocating.
"Then why," Kai asked quietly, "are you making me say this?"
The wrongness stirred again. From the corner of his eye, Sunny caught a flash of silver hair.
"I didn't…"
A voice cut him off.
"What is going on?"
The new presence had arrived without sound. Sunny turned to find the Lady standing behind them, her expression composed but displeased.
"I'm just having a talk with Kai," Sunny said, lowering his voice.
Her gaze slid to the archer. "What were you two talking about, Kai?"
Kai opened his mouth to answer, and then he blinked.
Confusion washed over his face. "I… I don't remember."
She smiled, warm and reassuring, as though that settled everything. "Then I hope you won't mind if I take Sunny for a little talk." Her tone left no room for refusal. "Don't worry, someone will come to accompany you on the watch soon."
Without waiting for a response, she reached out and took Sunny's hand, already turning away.
The moment their fingers touched, the headache vanished completely. The battlement felt solid again. The air flowed properly. The lighthouse beam no longer pulled at his chest.
-------------------------------------------
Sunny breathed harshly, each inhale burning his lungs. Pain throbbed through every part of him, a deep, pervasive ache that made it difficult to stand fully upright.
The battlefield around him was silent, almost deafeningly so.
The remains of hundreds of nightmare creatures lay scattered across the ground, their broken forms littering the field in a harrowing fashion. The fight had been a brutal one, far harder than it should have been. More than once, Sunny had thought he would be overwhelmed, buried beneath sheer numbers.
A question came to mind. Where were they all coming from?
It did not make sense. In the span of a single week, he had encountered more nightmare creatures than he had in years combined. Patrols had not changed. Warnings had not increased. And yet the attacks kept coming, growing in scale and ferocity.
Even the Lady had been forced to take the field herself, lest they be overwhelmed.
Sunny lifted his gaze toward the horizon. Far in the distance, she was still fighting, a lone figure against what looked like a horde of Great Beasts. Each of her movements was measured and controlled, her presence commanding the battlefield even from afar. She was holding them back with apparent ease, but it would still take time to finish the battle.
"You fought well."
Sunny turned sharply, hand tightening around his weapon. He was certain he had been alone a moment ago.
A woman stood a short distance behind him. She was small, small enough that at first glance he mistook her for a teenager. She was pretty in a delicate, almost unreal way, her features smooth and carefully proportioned, almost like a porcelain doll. Her hair was a bright gold, shining mesmerizingly under the rays of the moon.
She wore a simple tunic and a blue cloak, and covering her eyes, there was a blindfold.
"Hello, Sunny," she said gently. "It has been a while."
Something stirred deep within him at the sound of her voice. A tangled mix of emotions rose to the surface, fondness, bitterness, familiarity, and a quiet resentment he could not place.
His head began to ache the moment he truly looked at her.
"Who… who are you?" he asked, his voice unsteady despite his effort to keep it calm.
The woman smiled, her expression soft and almost kind. Though she could not see, her face was turned directly toward him. "You already know that."
A sudden sense of wrongness washed over him. The headache sharpened, sending a spike of pain through his thoughts. At the edges of his vision, faint silver tendrils seemed to pull and stretch.
She tilted her head, humming quietly as she stepped closer. Slowly, she moved around him, her presence calm and unhurried.
"You must be very desperate," she said lightly. "For your mind to summon me."
The pain intensified, blurring his vision. Before he realized what was happening, Sunny dropped to one knee, his strength giving out beneath him.
Gentle hands rested against his face, steadying him. She lifted his head just enough that he was facing her. Though her eyes were covered, he was certain, utterly certain, that they were fixed on him all the same.
"Wake up, Sunny," she whispered. "We need you." Her voice softened further. "I need you."
The silver strands snapped apart.
Something unfolded before him, not a place, but an impression. A vast canvas, stretched thin and badly damaged. Threads frayed and tangled. Colors muted and fading. Entire sections torn away beyond repair after countless battles.
"Wake up…"
A brief flash of silver light filled his vision, and then she was gone.
Sunny found himself standing alone once more, the battlefield unchanged. The fallen nightmare creatures lay as they had before. The ache in his body remained, though the sharp pressure in his head had faded.
In the distance, the Lady stood among the remains of the Great Beasts, her task complete.
As if she felt his gaze, she turned and smiled, calm and reassuring.
Sunny returned the smile without thinking, comforted by the warmth he felt even from this distance.
And yet, despite himself, his eyes drifted once more toward the lighthouse.
-------------------------------------------
The Lady watched Sunny more closely than she let on.
He stood near the edge of the battlement, the lighthouse's distant glow tracing a pale line along his profile. The battle had left marks on him. She could see it in the tension of his posture, in the way he stood as though he were barely holding himself together. He had smiled at her when she returned, as he always did, but it had been slower this time. More careful.
She approached him quietly, afraid of breaking the fragile balance he seemed to be holding to.
"You're hurt," she noted, eyes tracing the red stains covering his armor of shadows.
"I'll recover," Sunny replied. His voice was steady, but it lacked its usual ease.
She studied him for a moment longer, then reached out, resting her hand over his. He flinched for a moment, but then he interlaced his fingers with hers and smiled softly.
There was a question she had been meaning to ask, one whose answer she desperately needed. Every time she had asked it before, she had received a negative answer, but this time... she felt like this was the one.
"Sunny," she began softly, so softly she barely heard herself. "Do you love me?"
He went still.
For a brief, unsettling instant, it was as though he had forgotten how to breathe. His gaze dropped, mouth settling into a thin line. When he finally looked back at her, there was something in his eyes. Something raw. Something vulnerable. Something afraid.
"I…" His voice faltered. He swallowed, eyes darting from side to side, as if desperately looking for something.
When he failed to find it, his eyes returned to her.
She waited, patient. Certain.
His shoulders tensed, then sagged, as if something inside him had finally given way.
"Yes," he said quietly. "I love you."
Relief bloomed in her chest, warm and tender.
She smiled, lifting her other hand to his face. "I love you too," she said, without hesitation.
Then she leaned in and kissed him.
It was gentle. Reassuring. A promise sealed with warmth and familiarity. She felt him return it, careful at first, then more fully, as though anchoring himself to the moment.
She pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. What she saw in them emboldened her. She leaned back in, and their lips sealed with finality.
She did not notice the way his shoulders shook when she spoke those words.
She did not notice the brief, almost imperceptible shift in his gaze, something tightening, something distant flickering behind the warmth she expected to find there.
To her, everything felt right.
The lighthouse continued to shine in the distance, and the Lady did not once think to look toward it.
-------------------------------------------
Sunny's mother knew something was wrong the moment he stepped through the door.
It was not just the way he looked, though he was thinner than she remembered, his face drawn and shadowed with exhaustion that went far deeper than a mere lack of sleep. It was the pause. The way he lingered on the threshold, one foot still outside, as if he were unsure whether he truly belonged there anymore. As if the house itself might vanish if he crossed too quickly.
"Sunny?" his father said carefully, as though raising his voice might startle him into disappearing.
That was all it took.
Sunny crossed the room in three uneven steps and pulled them both into his arms. The force of it knocked the breath from her lungs. He clutched at them desperately, fingers digging into fabric, holding on as though they might slip through his grasp if he loosened it even for a moment.
His mother felt the sharp hitch in his breathing against her shoulder.
His father felt his hands trembling at his back.
They met each other's eyes over Sunny's head, a silent exchange of fear neither of them wanted to put into words.
"I'm alright," Sunny said quickly, too quickly. His voice was tight, stretched thin in an attempt at cheerfulness. "I really am. I just… wanted to see you."
His mother lifted a hand and pressed it to his hair, just as she had when he was small, smoothing it back from his face. "Little Sun," she murmured softly, "you don't sound alright."
Sunny gave a short, brittle laugh and finally pulled away. He wiped at his eyes, frowning as though surprised by the wetness there.
"I'm fine," he insisted. "Better than fine. Things are… working out."
His father studied him closely, worry etched deep into his expression. "Working out how?"
Sunny straightened, trying and failing to plaster a smile on his face. "I'm going to become a Saint."
His mother stared at him, her heart lurching. His father let out a slow, disbelieving breath. "A Saint," he repeated carefully.
Sunny nodded. A small, uncertain smile tugged at his lips. "I know how it sounds. An outskirts rat like me? It's ridiculous." He shook his head, a faint, humorless chuckle escaping him. "But it's real. I've come this far already."
His mother stepped closer, her hands hovering near his face as if afraid to touch him too firmly. "Sunny," she asked quietly, "what's wrong?"
He flinched, just barely, then smiled at her, a sad, resigned smile. "Everything."
His father moved in beside her, a steadying hand landing on Sunny's shoulder.
"Rain is alright," Sunny said suddenly, the words rushing out as if silence itself frightened him. "She's safe. She has a new family, people who love her. She's happy." His voice steadied as he spoke, clinging to each word like an anchor. "I'll visit her once I'm back in the Waking world."
Both of them froze.
A cold unease settled in his mother's chest. "Back from where?" she asked gently.
Sunny did not answer right away. Instead, his gaze drifted toward the door, lingering there as though he were already halfway gone.
"Sunny," his father said, firmer now, "look at me. What's happened to you?"
For a moment, Sunny looked as though he might shatter. His hands curled into fists at his sides. His eyes flickered, fear, resolve, and something distant and unreachable all passing through them in quick succession.
"Back from this nightmare," he said quietly. He let out a brittle, almost desperate laugh. "As for what happened to me… far too much to put into words." His voice softened. "I'm sorry. I don't have time."
He looked at them then, eyes shining with unshed tears. "I promise, I'm okay," he said. "Or at least… I will be soon enough."
His mother reached for him, panic breaking through her composure. "Please," she whispered. "You don't have to go anywhere. You can stay. We can figure this out together."
Sunny smiled at her, a soft, unbearably sad expression that made her chest ache.
"I will become strong," he said. "Rich. I will have friends, good friends." His breath hitched. "I will have the kind of life you two always wished for me." He swallowed hard. "I promise."
Before either of them could stop him, he pulled them both into another embrace. This time, his shaking was impossible to miss, his grip tight and frantic.
"Mom," he whispered. "Dad." His voice broke. "I… I love you."
They opened their mouths to answer, but Sunny was already pulling away.
The shadows seemed to fold around him, swallowing his figure whole. And just like that, he was gone.
-------------------------------------------
"Why do I keep doing this?"
The words left Sunny's mouth barely louder than a breath. They dissolved into the darkness around him, unanswered.
"Why do I keep fighting?"
Only silence replied.
He had asked himself these questions before. In quiet moments. In the aftermath of battles. In the brief pauses between one impossible trial and the next. Every time, he failed to find an answer, leaving behind only a dull ache.
His steps carried him past the flight of stairs, boots striking stone with measured precision. The oppressive weight of the place pressed down on him, heavy and unrelenting, but he met it without flinching.
"Why do I keep surviving?"
He slipped into the shadows as a crowd passed nearby, his movement fluid and practiced. He advanced in silence, careful and unseen, his gaze fixed forward unerringly.
"I'm happy here."
He reached the glass door and pushed it open, cool air brushing against his face as he stepped onto the scaffold. The structure groaned faintly beneath his weight as he hurried up the narrow steps, climbing toward the lighthouse's crown.
"I have everything I want," he murmured. "Everything I ever wished for."
He said it as though it would make a difference. As though the words themselves could hold reality in place.
The final door loomed before him. Sunny did not hesitate. He pushed it open and stepped inside.
The brazier's light greeted him, steady and unwavering, its glow painting the stone walls in warm hues.
"Why?" he asked one more time. "Just… why?"
"I would like to know too."
The voice came from directly behind him.
Sunny turned sharply, heart stuttering for a single, dangerous beat.
She stood there as she always did, beautiful, radiant, her presence wrapping the room in a familiar, comforting warmth. And yet, something was wrong.
It was her eyes, he realized belatedly. The softness he had always known was gone, replaced by something colder. Sharper. A quiet calculation that had no place in her caring gaze.
This was not his friend.
This was the Lady of Sorrows.
"I think it's time we had a talk, Sunless," she said, her tone calm, almost indulgent.
She tilted her head, an eerie smile slowly forming on her mesmerizing face. "Or would you rather be called…"
Sunny's blood froze. His heart began to thunder in his chest, each beat loud enough that he was certain she could hear it. He knew that expression. He had seen it before. He would never forget that expression.
"…Lost from Light?"