It was now the afternoon, Sunny could hear the chatter of neighbourhood kids walking home outside and the humming of a PTV.
Sunny sighed as he stood up, walking towards the door as the shadow of the person outside approached.
Opening the door before the person could even knock, Sunny greeted them.
"Hey."
"Sunny! I got the rest of the day off so I thought I'd come visit!"
Now out of her trainee uniform, Jet stood before him, two star insignias adorning her sleeve.
"I didn't even knoc- Uh, have you been… crying?"
Sunny clicked his tongue at the question.
"Yeah. Why are you here? Come to steal my food?"
Jet, now realising that she had probably come at a bad time, responded awkwardly.
"I uh, I came to congratulate you on getting a house! But… this is a bad time, isn't it?"
Sunny rubbed his eyes slightly before responding.
"No. It's fine actually, come in."
Sunny didn't mind her presence one bit, as he motioned her to follow him inside, flicking on the lights as he entered. He was grateful to her, as without her, he probably couldn't have gotten the home. He wasn't eighteen yet after all.
Seeing Jet look around curiously, he pointed at the sofa in front of the still running entertainment system.
"Make yourself comfortable."
"You have a couch? Nice!"
Sunny stopped and looked at her curiously.
"You don't?"
Jet, having just jumped onto his sofa, responded as she lay down comfortably.
"My room at the government facility… Well, it only has a desk and bed. And the bed is not comfortable."
Sunny spoke some more as he made his way to the washroom to wash his face.
"Why don't you get your own house?"
Jet glowered upon hearing that.
"Ugh, I don't make much money. That's why. Damn jobs got me working my life away for barely anything!"
Sunny felt slight pity upon hearing that.
Thinking back to how Effie used to live in his house, Sunny gave her a suggestion.
"I've got a bunch of extra rooms upstairs, you can stay here if you'd like."
Jet's eyes brightened upon hearing him say that.
"Really? I might just take you up on that offer…"
Closing the door to the bathroom, Sunny added one last thing.
"Bring your own sleeping pod though, mine's off limits."
Snickered slightly, Jet nodded.
"Alright, fine."
***
After washing his face, Sunny exited the washroom only to find Jet now gone.
Hearing footsteps upstairs, Sunny figured she went to take a look at the rooms.
Walking to the kitchen, Sunny began to prepare some delicious noodles for himself and Jet. He then heard the sound of her laughing loudly as she bounced on one of the beds.
Humming to himself slightly, Sunny looked up as he saw Jet descending down stairs looking at him with a scandalous expression.
"Sunny… What's with all the bedrooms? Were you expecting… company?"
Sunny brushed her off.
"No. The previous people who lived here did that. I don't really need any extra rooms so I just left it as it was."
Jet smiled slightly.
"If you say so…"
Pulling up a chair at the dining table, she sat waiting as Sunny boiled the noodles, a delicious salty smell wafting through the air.
"You uh… know how to cook?"
Sunny glanced back at her slightly.
"Yeah. Learned it back in the Dream Realm. You need to be skilled if you want to make monster meat taste good, you know?"
Jet nodded, agreeing completely.
"Don't I know it. Ah, the food at the cafeteria where I stay. It's… it's terrible! I'd rather eat monster meat than that garbage! I swear they put synth paste in that crap!"
Sunny turned, grinning slightly, having finished preparing the noodles.
"Well, just a rough choice of profession isn't it?"
Pulling up a chair and sitting across from Jet, Sunny slid her a bowl.
"Damn right. Ah, why couldn't I have just been born a legacy or something?"
Sunny's face darkened at the mention of legacies.
Jet, noticing it, questioned him curiously.
"You uh… seem to have a problem with legacies? Hey I get it bu-"
"Yeah, big problems."
Jet's eyes widened slightly.
"...Why? They're strong, you know…"
"Do you know of the… nevermind, I'll tell you later. But I do have a major problem with how they operate."
Sunny did not want to tell Jet of the Sovereigns just yet, he did not know if her communicator was bugged or anything like that.
"Mmm, don't we all? Arrogant pricks."
As they conversed, Jet immediately started to dig into her meal, voraciously devouring it.
Sunny then began to eat his own meal, watching in slight pride as Jet's meal disappeared within seconds.
'She really came at the perfect time.'
She had come just as Sunny was wallowing in sorrow. Even if Jet had no idea, he was glad that he did not have to spend one of his darkest moments alone.
Now smiling, Sunny continued to eat.
'I'm glad I still have you.'
One day, the others would emerge again. But he was just grateful he could have such a dear friend by his side, even if she didn't know it.
"What are you smiling about?"
Realising he was staring at her, Sunny coughed slightly before responding.
"I'm just glad somebody can appreciate my cooking. This is the first feast I've made in a while, you know?"
Looking at her now empty bowl a little regretfully, Jet spoke once more.
"Well… if you ever plan on making any more delicious meals, you know who to call."
She then added with a slightly desperate tone:
"Please. I can't go on with this government gruel. I need something good for once!"
Sunny laughed slightly upon hearing that.
"Sure, sure. Next time I'll buy some meat and potatoes too. Or do you have any suggestions?"
Jet sat up slightly as she began to list foods she wanted to try.
"Ooh, how about cake! Or ice cream? I heard that was good… Definitely chocolate too! And uhhh… coolies? No… cookies! Right, definitely cookies!"
'Right, she did like sweets, didn't she?'
Sunny nodded, before replying:
"Actually, there are some cookies in the refr-"
But he could not respond, as Jet had already shot up and ran to the fridge.
Sunny laughed loudly at the sight.
***
After half of his fridge was raided, Sunny sat at the dining table, typing away on his communicator as Jet lay sprawled out on his sofa.
"Sunny."
"Hmm?"
Sunny put down his communicator, looking at Jet as she had spoken in quite a serious tone just now.
"There was another reason I came here to see you today actually…"
As the sun set outside giving way to the twilight of the evening, Sunny said nothing, letting Jet continue.
"I was given the rest of the day off today… to prepare for what's happening tomorrow."
"..."
Seeing as she wasn't continuing, Sunny responded.
"Okay, then what's happening tomorrow?"
Jet now seemed a little worried when she responded.
"Tomorrow, about twelve kilometers north from here… A gate is going to open. I've been put on the strike team tasked with containing it."
"..."
Sunny was silent for a moment before he responded.
"What category?"
"Two. You might have guessed by now but… I've come to ask… if you would like to join me? I've never seen you fight but I'm sure you're plenty strong. You don't have to come but I'd feel a lot better if I knew you had my back."
Sunny thought for a moment.
'I would really prefer to keep a low profile… But if the government already knows a day in advance there should be plenty of preparation. I shouldn't have to do too much, and I'd hate to say decline when Jet was clearly so worried about me saying no…'
"Alright. Send me the time and location."
"Ah, don't worry about that, the alert should be sent out any second now."
And just as she said that, Sunny heard a loud grating, ringing sound coming from both his and Jet's communicator.
Checking his communicator, Sunny read:
EMERGENCY ALERT
EMERGENCY ALERT
GATE ACTIVITY DETECTED IN YOUR PROXIMITY
ETA: 19 HOURS
EVACUATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
"Nice timing."
"Right?"
Sunny laughed slightly at the strange situation.
When he was young, the sound of a gate alert had filled him with so much fear.
But now, he just checked his communicator and put it away, joking about it with a friend.
"I'll see you there then."
"Alright!"
As Jet got up to leave, Sunny stopped her.
"Wait. Before you leave, here."
As Sunny said that, the room went dark.
A slight rustling could be heard as Jet looked around in slight panic.
"S-Sunny? What's going on?"
"Relax, this is just a small gift. It won't even hurt! Probably."
"W-Wha.. What's gonna hurt?"
What Jet could not see in the darkness was a gargantuan serpent slithering around Sunny's house. As it was too big, Sunny had it remain partially in the shadows, with only its head and parts of its body emerging.
Sending a command to Serpent, Sunny watched as Serpent slowly brought its head right in front of Jet's.
"S-Shit. Just what the hell is this Sunny?!"
She couldn't see Serpent, but she could feel its powerful soul in front of her.
Serpent then locked eyes with Jet for a moment, as Sunny witnessed a miniature Serpent appear within Jet's soul.
He had invoked [Mark of Shadows].
And as the Mark of Shadows formed…
"Holy shit!"
Jet screamed as she fell backwards, landing on her rear.
With the Mark of Shadows, she could now see in the dark.
"W-W-W-W… What's with the giant snake?! What the hell, Sunny?!"
She then belatedly realised she could now see.
Waving her arm in front of her face, she looked on in amazement.
"Wait… I can see now? Hey, what is going on? What's with the snake?"
Laughing slightly, Sunny dismissed Serpent, having scared her enough.
"That was the Soul Serpent, my Shadow. I don't really know what it just gave you but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to help. You can see now right?"
Jet nodded dumbly.
"Yeah… I just got a new attribute. It says I've something about the Lord of Shadows? Thats-"
"Yep. That's me. The ability said that it would give you a mini Soul Serpent, so I figured that would be a good thing. How is it?"
Jet looked at him in confusion.
"You've never even tried it?! What if it- nevermind. The attribute says I can use it to make a weapon of choice, gain increased stealth in the shadows, and see in the da- Wow! This is great! Thanks Sunny!"
Her previous ire was immediately gone once she saw the benefits. Completely forgetting how scared she was earlier.
Standing up, she immediately summoned a glaive and began swinging it around.
As she was swinging her new weapon around, Sunny looked at the new set of shimmering runes before him.
[Souls Marked: 1]
'Hm… Will Serpent get stronger if I create more marks?'
"The attribute should also get stronger as you get stronger, or the more you kill things. No clue which one, maybe it's both? Anyways, I'll tell you more about the Soul Serpent later, just make sure your communicator isn't bugged or anything."
Jet nodded, not intending to ask anything just yet.
"Gets stronger from killing things huh? Good…"
"And I expect this to be kept a se-"
"Yeah yeah I got it. No one will know. Ever."
Sunny smiled upon hearing that.
"Also, I plan on challenging the Second Nightmare within a year. Still want to join?"
Jet immediately stopped swinging her glaive upon hearing that, her mouth slightly agape.
"A year? Are you crazy?!"
"I was for a time, but then I killed my crazy version, so don't worry!"
Jet continued to stare at him with her mouth agape, having no words.
"So? Still want to join me? You're going to have to train as hard as you can though."
"More work…?"
Jet seemed hesitant.
Sunny, not wanting to force her, added:
"You don't have to accept. But I have a lot of future plans, and many of them just aren't feasible until I'm a Master."
Jet fell deep into thought.
"Do you have a Seed in mind?"
"Yep. I know exactly where it is, and it's nowhere near blooming. I also know plenty about the time it takes place in so don't worry about that. Oh, it's in the Chained Isles by the way."
He was of course talking about the Seed on Ivory Island, within the Tower of Longing.
He saw no reason to choose a different nightmare, as he already knew plenty about this one.
"The Chained Isles…? That's… far. I don't think I can do this Sunny… I'm nowhere near as strong as I'd like to be just yet."
Sunny nodded in understanding.
'Well, I guess she's only Awakened for around a year and a half at this point… I can't blame her for not wanting to come. It's the right decision.'
And if he remembered correctly, Jet had mentioned that Sunny had beaten her record of Ascension by five years. So she would've been about 24 when she became a Master, so there was still another several years before she would've decided to attempt the second nightmare.
"That's alright, I don't expect you to risk your life just because I asked."
Jet looked at him gratefully, but also with a bit of shame.
"Sorry Sunny…"
"Jet, it's fine, really. You made the smart cho-."
And as Sunny was reassuring her, Jet's communicator buzzed.
They both went silent as Jet checked her communicator, its soft light illuminating her face.
"...Seems like I didn't get the rest of the day off after all."
Sighing in disappointment, Jet gave Sunny another apologetic look.
"Looks like I need to leave, sorry Sunny, for the Nightmare thing too. I'll… I'll see you tomorrow."
"That's alright, come on I'll see you out."
Walking together to the door, Sunny accompanied Jet to her PTV.
"And really, don't beat yourself over the Nightmare, this might sound insulting but it's not nearly as big of a deal as you think. I just thought it'd be a good way to help a friend get stronger."
Which was completely true, Sunny did not invite Jet in the hopes of using her aspect in any nefarious way, he simply invited her to allow her to ascend quicker, which he knew she wanted.
But if she really didn't feel ready for the nightmare, Sunny would not force her.
Jet then rolled down the window of her PTV, giving Sunny a slightly scathing glance.
"Well… that makes me feel a bit better. But also a bit insulted! Bye!"
Immediately rolling the window back up, Jet sped off.
'...Isn't that a little too fast for a residential area?'
Shaking his head, Sunny made his way back inside.
But as he was walking back in, he noticed some nosy glances from his neighbours who were whispering to each other behind their hands.
'Hm? They're… talking about me?'
But little did the neighbours know… Sunny was just as nosy.
And as his shadow approached them, he heard the parts of their conversation.
"...hear that girl screaming about the giant snake? How frivolous! Kids these days…"
"There are soundproofed rooms for a reason… damn brats!"
"That girl… she was a government agent too…"
Sunny then turned to them.
"Shouldn't you be evacuating?"
The neighbours, realising he had heard him, scurried back to their home as they continued to move their things out.
But the moment he shut the door, his face was in his palms.
His face burning red, Sunny realised what the neighbours were talking about.
'Gods…'
'Giant… snake… Gah!'
They had misunderstood! He… he…
'My reputation is… I just moved here damn it!'
Sunny lowered his head, holding onto his forehead in shame.
***
After sulking for a while, he sighed and sat up.
Leaning his head back as he closed his eyes, Sunny thought about what to do the next day.
Listening to the sound of PTVs driving by, the neighbourhood fleeing the oncoming gate, Sunny decided to weave.
He began summoning a memory.
It was a memory that he had purchased with his contribution points from the government, a spatial storage memory named [Jar of Wealth].
A glass jar filled to the brim with glimmering soul shards appeared in Sunny's hands.
As spatial memories were expensive and in high demand, Sunny had only managed to procure one that was a Dormant Memory of the second tier, which he had proceeded to upgrade to an Ascended memory of the fourth tier, the limit of the weak memory's weave. He had only gotten it just in case he didn't end up obtaining the Covetous Coffer.
'I should pay that fiend a visit soon…'
Solvane was also just lying around there… waiting to be killed.
'I'll kill them after I deal with the Gate.'
Sunny pushed his many thoughts out of his mind as he grabbed the last seven transcendent soul shards he had, as well as summoning the Robes of Yore. Although he could kill Corrupted nightmare creatures reasonably well if he ambushed them, it was still a tall task for Sunny as he was a mere Awakened. Even with the help of his Shadows, Sunny only hunted the weak Corrupteds on the surface or the Chain Worms that ventured too close to the titanic chains. He didn't dare to fully enter the underside of the islands, not knowing what could be there.
There could be creatures of darkness for all he knew!
'My thoughts are wandering again…'
Shaking his head, he focused on the task at hand.
Sunny began weaving basic memories he would feed to shrike.
…And several hours later, he was done.
Shadow: [Shadow Amalgam].
Shadow Rank: Transcendent.
Shadow Class: Devil.
Shadow Fragments: [0/250].
Having sacrificed the Fallen Beast echo he had received back at the Forgotten Shore, Sunny was finally able to ascend Shrike.
'I have a Transcendent Devil and Ascended Titan as my Shadows. And I'm only an Awakened…'
Although he would most certainly not be able to get them to reach Supremacy anytime soon, Sunny could still hope. He had already slaughtered many of the Corrupteds at the Chained Isles after all, now most of the ones that remained were the stronger ones that Sunny didn't dare approach.
Within his Soul Sea beneath the seven lightless suns, Sunny summoned Shrike to get a good look at it.
'Damn!'
The power emanating off of it… it was incredible!
Shrike was already plenty strong as an Awakened Devil, and now, less than a year later it was already a Transcendent…
Patting its beak, a hollow clang was heard from within the bird's mouth.
Shrike's wings rustled slightly, and within its reflective eyes, Sunny saw gratitude and pride.
He grinned at the sight.
"We're gonna wreak a lot of havoc together buddy!"
The mighty raven screeched, spreading its wings in agreement as waves were produced in the tranquil waters of Sunny's Soul Sea.
…Returning to the real world, Sunny checked the time.
'I'll just stay up…'
It was still dark outside, the neighbourhood was now abandoned. Houses were locked down, shutters were closed, some even had barricades raised.
'The ETA for the gate said that it should arrive within-'
And just as Sunny thought that, his phone buzzed with a loud grating noise.
'...You can't be serious.'
Was another Gate opening?
Checking his communicator, Sunny saw the message.
EMERGENCY ALERT
EMERGENCY ALERT
GATE ACTIVITY DETECTED IN YOUR PROXIMITY
ETA: 30 MINUTES 21 SECONDS
EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!
'No… this is the same one. The time estimate was wrong? Is this seriously happening?'
Although he was sure the government had already made preparations for the gate opening early, he couldn't be sure.
And in the next moment, Sunny received a message.
It was Jet.
[Are you awake? I'm at the gate.]
'Good… So they are there…'
Sunny quickly typed a message back.
[I am. See you there.]
Locking up his house, Sunny began to make his way to the gate.
'I'm a little low on essence… This should be enough though.'
This was the reason Sunny had hurried to ascend Shrike. It was in case something went wrong with the Gate.
And within the darkness of the night, him and his Shadows were at their strongest.