He walked leisurely through the halls of a grand and magnificent castle, how did he know it was grand and magnificent you ask?
Why, because he designed it himself!
The thought made him huff a quiet laugh, the first genuine sound of amusement he'd made in… he wasn't sure how long.
His fingers brushed the stone walls as he passed. They were carved with intricate reliefs that stretched for dozens of meters, flowing like a regal tapestry. Each panel depicted scenes of ancient battles, forgotten heroes, and fantastical landscapes.
A small smile tugged at his lips. It had been a long time since he'd allowed himself to wander these halls
He paused before a particular carving.
It depicted a boundless darkness locked behind seven seals.
His smile dimmed, but he kept walking.
The next relief showed a castle perched atop a lonely hill, a single star burning fiercely in the sky above it.
The one after showed the light of that star consuming the castle as rivers of blood flowed down its halls.
Then, a corpse in golden armor sitting on a throne, a woman with a bronze spear drowning in a tide of monsters, an archer trying to pierce the falling sky with his arrows.
Finally, the last relief showed a colossal crimson spire, at its base seven severed heads were guarding seven locks And at the top a dying angel was being consumed by hungry shadows.
His smile vanished completely, his rare good mood evaporated like mist.
"Sunless." He lowered his head and pressed his palm against the carving of the dying angel.
"If you are seeing this, I no longer exist… and my gambit has succeeded. At least partially."
He exhaled through his nose, letting his hand fall to his side. Then he straightened, lifting his head once more.
"There are many things I wish to tell you, but my time is short."
He resumed walking, footsteps echoing softly through the vast corridor.
"You bear a fragment of Weaver's lineage. A lineage called forbidden for a reason, I cannot tell you why without risking you becoming corrupted. What I can say, is that Bastards of Fate like you… like me… are cursed to live in obscurity, If we don't, we risk bringing ruin upon all we know and love."
He stopped at a tall window. Outside lay a wasteland, a vast expanse of dust and ash beneath a lightless sky.
"I know of only one other Bastard," he murmured. "He did not live in obscurity. And he was killed to prevent the ruin he would have brought."
His voice softened.
"Broken Sword did not deserve his fate. But it came for him nonetheless."
A faint, humorless chuckle escaped him.
"Hah… damnation. Listen to me. Waxing poetic even when talking to myself."
He pushed away from the window and continued deeper into the castle.
"Roughly six years before you see this memory I would have carved an enchantment into your very being, its purpose is to prevent Weavers lineage from devouring Shadows blood and bring equilibrium to the two, so they can coexist even after the enchantment fades. "
He approached a pair of towering doors made of black lacquered wood, carved with swirling constellations and coiling shadows.
"…It will not cure you of being a Bastard," he said with a wry smirk. "But it will delay the effects long enough that it won't matter."
The doors opened without a touch, he stepped inside. A vast library stretched before him, shelves upon shelves of ancient tomes, modern books, and bound volumes.
"The Sovereigns have failed humanity," he said quietly. "Too caught up in their petty games and arrogance. The same day I carved your body, I will have either killed or severely weakened the most troublesome of the three."
He walked deeper into the library, passing row after row of shelves.
"That same day… I will have ceased to exist."
His voice was calm and resigned.
"The waking world is not, and will never be, ready for a Sacred being like myself to descend. Especially not one of Weaver's brood."
He stopped before the most ornate shelf of all, carved from dark wood and inlaid with silver
"…I would like to say there was no other way. That I had no choice but to leave everything to you."
He looked up, the ceiling above him was a mosaic of a starlit sky
"But that would be a lie, I could find a way... But I won't."
He closed his eyes.
"The truth is… I am tired… and I have long since been struck by that foul curse. All my friends, all my comrades… my wife… my daughter…" A single tear slid down his cheek. "All have died in my arms."
"I'm sorry I could not save you from a life in the outskirts. But allow me to give you some advice…"
He placed his hand on the spine of a thick black tome with silver inlay.
"…look after your sister. Hold your friends close. And those you love closer. Never let them go."
His fingers tightened on the book.
"But most of all…"
He smiled softly.
"…Sunny… be happy."
***
Sunny's eyes snapped open with a ragged gasp, the world lurched violently. Before he could even think, his body twisted to the side and he retched, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the dojo floor. Acidic bile burned up his throat, and his entire body convulsed
""Sunny!""
He heard muffled voices as his head rang and his vision swam.
He heaved again painfully, his stomach clenching as if trying to expel something that wasn't there. His fingers clawed weakly at the mat as a pair of arms pulled him into something soft. Shakily he wrapped his arms around the person and held on tight.
Through the haze he felt another body settle next to him and began rubbing slow circles along his back while the first ran their fingers through his hair.
He breathed deeply as he rode out the disorientation and recalled the vision, no, the memory he had just received.
'That man… he called himself a Sacred being.'
Sunny believed it, the sheer power the man had, even when not actively using it, was more than he could even begin to comprehend. The shakes he was experiencing weren't from the pain, it was from the dichotomy of returning to his frail, weak, powerless self after feeling first-hand the overwhelming might of a lesser god.
He let out a shuddering breath and tilted his head up. He was met with Neph's sliver eyes filled with concern. Her arm was wrapped around him, holding him upright, and only now did he realize his face was pressed into her breasts.
He blinked slowly, usually he would be embarrassed, but right now he just wanted the warmth.
Cassie's soft voice came from the side.
"Sunny? How are you feeling?"
He turned his head and looke d at her, she was still slowly stroking his back. He reached out with a shaking arm, wrapped it around her waist, and pulled her close too.
Cassie didn't hesitate. She leaned into him immediately, her forehead resting against his shoulder.
Sunny didn't need to answer the question, they could both tell that he was not well.
None of them said anything more as Cassie and Nephis enveloped Sunny in tight embrace, one on each side, their warmth pressing into him, their scents familiar and grounding, their arms wrapped around him, their bodies bracketing his trembling form
Sunny closed his eyes and let himself sink into the embrace. He basked in their heat, the beat of their hearts, and the press of their bodies as the trembling slowly began to subside.
He relaxed after an unknown amount of time, it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, in the haze he had no way of knowing.
When awareness finally returned, the first thing he noticed was the warmth.
The second was the softness.
The third was the fact that he was wedged between Nephis and Cassie, his ears flushed as he finally had the wherewithal to realize exactly where his head was resting, and exactly how tightly he was clinging to both of them.
He cleared his throat, mortified but too drained to do anything about it. He gave them a small, reassuring squeeze.
"...I'm okay now."
Slowly they released their embrace, giving him enough room to move but not letting go.
Cassie was the first to speak.
"Sunny, can you tell us what happened?"
He nodded.
"Yeah, when I absorbed the Drop of Ichor, Blood Weave-" He grimaced and looked between the two. "That's uh, a fragment of Weaver's lineage." Cassie tilted her head curiously while Nephis nodded minutely. "It tried to devour Shadow God's lineage, but something stopped it, some sort of barrier… Blood Weave didn't like that at all, and it started to go berserk. Everything went dark and… I was somewhere else."
Nephis's brow furrowed.
"Somewhere else? What do you mean?"
Sunny swallowed.
"I think, I think it was someone's memory, but it was like I was that person… I felt everything they felt…" He looked down at his hand. It still trembled slightly, he clenched his fist.
Sunny described the vision he received to the two.
Nephis had only half listened after hearing the reason her father had been killed, she had leaned into him and was clutching his shirt tightly as she gazed into nothing. Sunny had his arm around her and was stroking her back slowly.
Cassie meanwhile had her brow furrowed and she was idly holding his other arm, gently squeezing, her thumbs tracing small circles against his skin as she processed everything.
After a long silence, she spoke.
"Sunny… I think I understand most of what you said, as hard it is to believe that someone had conquered the Fifth Nightmare." She shook her head i disbelief. "But… there are some things I'm struggling with".
She looked at him intently.
"Why you? And who is Rain?"
Sunny looked at Cassie a bit confused before he realized, he had never actually told her about Rain, feeling a bit sheepish he answered.
"Uh… Rain is my younger sister…"
Cassie stared at him, expression shifting from confusion to mild betrayal.
"...You have a sister? And you didn't tell me? And she was mentioned by name?"
He nodded slowly.
"Yes, I have I sister… I… forgot to tell you, sorry. And yes, she was mentioned by name. Why?"
Cassie stared at him expectantly.
When he continued to look confused, she let out a long, exasperated sigh.
"...Sunny, did it ever cross your mind that you might be related to that man?"
Sunny jolted.
"What!? No way! I knew both my parents before they died." He denied it immediately
Cassie didn't back down.
"Yes, but what about your grandparents? Do you know anything about them?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it.
"…No. I don't…"
Cassie pointed a finger.
"Exactly! For all we know he could be your grandfather! You could be the prince of the Shadow Clan!" She exclaimed excitedly.
Sunny gently took her hand in his and lowered it.
"Cass… If I was their prince, don't you think they would have approached us by now?"
"That's-" Cassie paused at that before shaking her head. "No, Sunny you just received Shadow God's lineage, if you're not the heir to the Shadow Clan, nobody is."
"Perhaps…" Nephis spoke up quietly. "The Shadow Clan is not nearly as powerful as everybody thinks."
Cassie frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Think about it, their greatest achievement was done by a man who no longer lives, a man who was cursed to be alone. How many vassals do you think he has? Likely very few if any."
"But Neph, we know that they have been protecting you." Cassie protested.
Nephis shook her head
"They saved me, yes, but not my clan. That suggests a lack of resources, or that they only wanted me."
She leveled a calm gaze at Cassie.
"The first means they are in no position to help us, the second means that we cannot trust them."
Cassie bit her tongue as she listened before letting out a defeated sigh.
"...You're probably right."
Sunny spoke up.
"Does it matter in the end? It just means we have to find a way to deal with the sovereigns ourselves… like we originally planned."
Nephis smiled softly at him.
"No it doesn't, you're right Sunny, at lease we now know we can't rely on the Shadow Clan."
Cassie frowned, chewing on her lower lip, after a moment she nodded with determination.
"Alright, I'll have to rethink some plans, but I can do that later."
She hesitated, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt before turning to him.
"Sunny… can you… tell me about Rain? It's just, I realized I don't know anything about your family."
Sunny blinked then chuckled softly.
"Sure, let me regale you with tale of my tragic beginning."
He leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
"...My parents were menial workers…"
He told the women who had become two of the three most important people in his life alongside Rain about his life in the outskirts, from his parents early deaths to being separated from Rain in the orphanage. From his struggle to survive alone to feeling the call of the nightmare spell and leaving a mark on a barely living tree to use as his own gravestone. He held nothing back and told them everything about his life before meeting them.
They were quiet while he talked and when he finished Nephis spoke after a minute of silence.
"I never really knew my mother…"
This time, Nephis spoke and described her own childhood. From being born from a hollow to her fathers constant absence and being raised by her grandmother. From the loneliness to the assassination attempts. From the fall of her clan to her first nightmare and arriving at the academy.
Cassie constantly fidgeted as she listened to the tragic childhoods of her best friends. Tears welled in the corner of her eyes and she threw her arms around them.
"You both deserved better." she sniffed."You still deserve better."
She pulled back just enough to look at them, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.
"Tomorrow you're both coming over for dinner."
She stated, brooking no argument.
Nephis and Sunny nodded and he let out a big yawn.
'...Damnation, I'm tired.'
"I don't know about you two," he muttered, "but I need a shower and then some sleep."
Nephis moved to support him, but he waived her off.
"I can walk, Neph."
Sharing a look with Cassie, they stood and followed Sunny up the stairs.
***
"I'm telling you, Jet, something weird is going on."
Kurt's voice grated against the inside of the PTV like sandpaper. The man in the passenger seat, a Master with epaulettes gleaming on his government uniform, had been bouncing his leg nonstop since they left the headquarters.
Jet resisted the urge to slam his knee with her elbow.
She side eyed him as they drove through the terraced neighborhood.
"I heard you the first time Kurt, whining about it won't change anything, now stay sharp and tell me where this 'shadow fuckery' is"
She quoted his exact words, the same ones he'd shouted while barging into her room while she was off duty, half‑dressed, and two minutes away from enjoying her first break in weeks.
She clicked her tongue.
'Can't believe I was pulled away from my break because of this bastard.'
She glared at Kurt from the corner of her eye again.
'...hold on… I recognize this area'
She ran her hand down her face, of course this has something to do with Sunny.
Ignoring Kurt's vague, circular directions, she turned sharply and drove straight toward Sunny's house.
Kurt looked around surprised.
"Huh? Yeah, this feels like the place, how'd you know?"
Jet parked the PTV and opened the door with a sigh.
"Educated guess. An independent awakened with a shadow aspect lives here."
Kurt scoffed as he climbed out.
"Of course it's an independent shadow, those bastards are always up to something shady."
Jet stopped mid-step and stared at him.
Kurt blinked back. "What? My shady deeds are government sanctioned."
She shook her head and approached the houses front door, Kurt following behind.
She raised her fist to knock but the door opened first. A damp and very tired looking Sunny greeted her.
"...Jet," He said, voice rough. "I'm not exactly in the mood to welcome guests, what do you want."
Jet blinked.
"Damn Sunny, you look worse than me."
She jerked a thumb at Kurt. "My colleague noticed some strange behavior with the shadows throughout NQSC." She shrugged. "I don't really get it myself."
Kurt stepped forward and Jet had to do a double take at his tone.
"Yes, that's right, I was hoping you could shed some light on this matter, do you know what happened to cause it." The irritable Master said almost differentially to Sunny.
Sunny for his part looked at the man with narrowed eyes.
"...Yes, I know what caused it."
Kurt's face lit up with a bright, almost cheerful smile.
"Wonderful! And would you be willing to tell us about it?"
".No." Sunny denied instantly while Jet looked at Kurt as if he had grown a second head.
Kurt nodded gregariously
"That's perfectly understandable, apologies for taking up your time. Have a pleasant night."
Sunny looked between the slack-jawed Jet and the strange shadow.
"Right… you too."
He closed the door.
Kurt nodded in satisfaction and headed back to the PTV, Jet stayed frozen for a moment before following him.
Once they were inside the vehicle and pulling away, she turned to him slowly.
"What the actual fuck was that Kurt? Why were you nice to him? You're never nice with anyone!"
Kurt looked at her confused, a small smile on his face. He opened his mouth to object, then closed it. His brow furrowed and his smile disappeared. He stared at the dashboard, expression shifting from confusion to unease. After her a few moments he looked at her concerned.
"...I don't know." He said quietly.
***
Sunny yawned again, jaw cracking, as he crawled into his sleeping pod. Nephis and Cassie had left just before Jet and that odd Master arrived, so now the house was silent.
His body felt like lead. His mind felt like it had been wrung out and left to dry. He wanted nothing more than to collapse and let oblivion take him. But…
'Damnation… I haven't even checked my runes.'
He groaned and summoned them, even in his exhaustion, the changes were impossible to miss and he focused on those.
[Name: Sunless]
[True Name: Lost from Light]
[Rank: Awakened]
[Class: Devil]
[Shadow Cores: 4/7]
[Shadow Fragments: 2251/4000]
[Attributes: Fated, Flame of Divinity, Prince of Shadows, Blood Weave, The Shadow]
[Aspect Legacy: Shadow Dance]
[??? Legacy: Epigone]
[Flame of DivinityAttribute Description:"Your soul is aflame with the light of divinity"]
[Prince of Shadows Attribute Description: "Shadows recognize you as their ruler's rightful heir"]
[The Shadow Attribute Description: "You have inherited the lineage of Shadow God."]
[Epigone Description: "A lonely shadow haunted by the failures of his past and future created this legacy for the treacherous Lost from Light."]
[Epigone Mastery 0/6]
The runes flickered softly, waiting for him to process the implications, he didn't, he was too tired.
'Huh, neat.'
That was the last coherent thought he managed before sleep dragged him under like a tide.
***
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know how I did, as always, feedback is welcome