Shadow Re: Slave

Sunny stood beside the boat they had built together. This time, they'd made sure it was sturdy — no haphazard raft of broken dreams and desperate hope. He knew the Dark Sea was not something they could simply cross without a fight. So at the very least, the vessel needed to hold long enough to give them a chance… a moment to react when the inevitable came.

He had also made sure to involve Cassie in a way that mattered. She hadn't said a word, but he had seen it — the faint shadow of frustration on her face, the quiet belief that she was useless. Sunny didn't comment. He wasn't one to intrude where words weren't welcome. But he acted anyway.

Without explanation, he had tied the golden rope — the same one Cassie had once gifted to Nephis — to a tree trunk, then fastened the other end near the boat. That way, Cassie could use it to move small pieces of salvaged wood and supplies from the grove to where they were working. Later, she helped him weave the sail, her hands steady, her expression focused.

It was now finished, and all that remained was to leave.

The sea was quiet. For now.

Now, with the sun sinking low, night was near. And with it, the return of the dark sea.

Sunny turned to the others. His voice was steady, but it carried weight.

"Neph. Cass. Are you ready? I know it's dangerous, but we have to try. And I think… we'll make it."

He hesitated for a moment, then continued, gaze lingering on Nephis.

"If anything happens… Neph, you grab Cassie and swim. Head in the direction I give you. Don't ask questions. And even if it means leaving me behind—do it. Am I clear?"

Nephis stared at him, unmoving. She didn't like it. Not one bit. But she nodded, silently.

"And if I don't return right away," Sunny said, more quietly now, "don't come looking for me. Go to the city. If there's a way home, take it. If not… then do what you have to do. I'll find you—if I'm still alive. And if I'm not… there's nothing you could've done anyway."

It sounded too much like a farewell. Nephis didn't like that, either.

And what was that line—if there's no return… just do your thing?

She already had her suspicions. Something was off. She had never heard of this place before. No record of a gateway, no known Citadel. Which meant this wasn't a conquered territory.

Cassie caught the implication, too. Her face paled.

"Sunny… what do you mean if there's no Citadel?"

Sunny turned to her and gently took her hands.

"I've never heard of a place like this. Not in the entire Dream Realm," he said quietly. "And in your vision… you said there were people. A lot of them. That's not normal."

Cassie looked down, trembling slightly. She wasn't stupid. She had thought about that possibility already. She just hadn't wanted to admit it. Not out loud.

She hadn't said anything back then because she didn't want to break their spirit. And when Sunny and Nephis never brought it up again, she assumed they were thinking the same.

But now… hearing it from Sunny, feeling the quiet resignation from Nephis—it hit differently. This wasn't just a thought anymore.

It was the truth

Nephis didn't like how Sunny treated her like a child who needed protecting.

…Or did she not like to have someone to lean on, someone as strong as her to share her burden with?

Nephis didn't know. She had been raised to stand alone, forged by fire and silence. Dependency was weakness. But ever since they had met — ever since Sunny had bled for them without question, without demand — that certainty had begun to crack.

He wasn't like the others. He didn't need her strength to validate his own. He didn't ask for obedience or reverence. He simply… was. Unmoving. Relentless. A shadow that shadowed her fears and flaws as easily as her convictions.

And that unsettled her more than she would ever admit.

The truth was, she didn't really know. Her thoughts about Sunny were confusing—contradictory, even. On one hand, she found herself slowly opening up to him. Despite all the secrets he kept—secrets she couldn't even begin to guess at—she had come to rely on him. To trust him. In a way she hadn't trusted anyone in a long time.

On the other hand, his protectiveness sometimes grated on her nerves.

She was Nephis of the Immortal Flame Clan. A legacy. Trained from birth to face horrors most people couldn't even dream of. She was no helpless child to be sheltered behind someone else's back. She could stand on her own.

…Or could she?

That question had started to linger in her mind more and more lately. Sunny had grown stronger—much stronger. And while she had made her own progress, she couldn't deny the gnawing doubt that crept into her heart every time he pulled ahead again. Every time he faced some abomination alone so they wouldn't have to.

It wasn't just strength that made her uneasy. There was something else. A feeling she had toward Sunny… something she couldn't define. Or maybe didn't want to.

Damn these things.

Emotions. Relationships. Feelings.

She hated them.

Fighting was easier. Simple. You either won or you lost—clean, decisive. But feelings? Human interaction? There were too many outcomes, too many ways to misunderstand, to hurt or be hurt.

Still… she was learning. With Cassie, it came easier. The blind girl was soft, warm, and kind. Nephis could learn how to be… human, with her. And once she figured something out, she'd try to show Sunny. Small steps. A word. A glance. A smile.

She remembered one attempt, a few days ago.

She had smiled at him.

Not a forced smile. Not exactly. Just… an experiment.

Sunny had flinched—actually flinched—and backed away like she'd tried to stab him in the gut.

"Don't do that," he'd said, tone half-joking, half-serious. "Unless you're actually happy. Don't force it. Because… if you smile like that, people might get scared."

She hadn't known what to say to that. So she said nothing.

Now, standing on the shore, preparing to board the boat and sail into the unknown, her mind was cluttered with thoughts like these. Thoughts she didn't want. Thoughts she didn't understand.

She exhaled slowly and jumped into the boat.

Enough.

It was time to leave.

There would be no more time for feelings once they were on the dark sea.

Only survival.

During the voyage, none of them spoke. The silence between Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie was heavy, taut like a drawn bowstring.

Then Sunny suddenly froze.

He had felt something—a presence. The headless stone statue… and at the same time, something else. Something massive was approaching the boat from beneath the surface of the dark sea.

Without wasting a second, he rose to his feet and pressed the steering pole into Nephis's hands.

"You'll keep sailing in the same direction," he said, his voice low but steady. "There will be another of those stone statues soon. When you see it, you should be safe. Tomorrow, head for the city. I'll come find you."

He hesitated for the briefest moment, then added, even softer, "Don't wait for me. No matter how long I take… please."

It was the first time Nephis had heard him speak like that—soft, almost whispering, close enough that his breath brushed her ear. There was no arrogance in his voice, no sarcasm. Just something raw and painfully human.

And then, without giving her a chance to protest, without even looking back, Sunny leapt into the dark water.

He dove into the depths, vanishing into the hungry black, ready to meet the abomination head-on.

he Dark Sea swallowed him whole.

The cold hit like a hammer — crushing, all-consuming. It stole his breath, numbed his limbs, and dragged at his body like invisible chains. But Sunny didn't fight the pull. He let himself sink.

Deeper.

Darker.

Quieter.

Then he felt it.

Not with his eyes — the water was too black for that — but with the creeping sense of doom that slithered along his spine. Something was moving beneath him. Something vast.

Sunny summoned the Abyssfang.

He gripped the haft tightly, every muscle in his body coiled like a spring.

The water shifted.

A shape the size of a building rose from the depths — not fast, but unstoppable. He saw a flash of scaled flesh, a maw filled with teeth like spears, and one lidless eye burning with cold hatred.

No weak point. No pattern. Just hunger.

Sunny exhaled sharply and pushed the little wisps of essence — gifted to him by Serpent — into his legs. Muscles coiled like loaded springs, and in the blink of an eye, he exploded forward, a blur of motion surging straight toward the abomination.

The abomination opened its mouth.

He dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the bite that would have ended him instantly, and swung the Abyssfang as he passed. The blade bit into something — flesh, cartilage, maybe bone — but not deep enough. The creature shuddered… and then slammed its tail into him.

Sunny felt something crack. Maybe a rib. Maybe more than one. The force sent him spinning through the water, lights exploding behind his eyes.

He couldn't teleport. Couldn't fly. Could barely breathe.

But he could endure.

And endure he did.

He let himself spin, absorbed the pain, and used it. When the monster came again, he was ready. He didn't aim for the eye or the mouth. He drove his sword into the gills — soft, wet, and vulnerable — and twisted with every ounce of strength he had.

Black blood erupted into the sea.

The creature roared silently, whipping its body in agony. One of its claws slashed across Sunny's shoulder, tearing flesh and armor. But he held on.

He held on.

Minutes passed. Maybe hours. He didn't know anymore.

He was just a human, a Sleeper with a half-Awakened Core. And the thing he was fighting was an Awakened Devil. But Sunny had something it didn't:

Hatred.

Desperation.

And a mind sharpened by death.

He found its heart eventually — not with his eyes, but by following the pulsing echo of its essence. When he felt it, he drove Serpent deep into the beast's chest with a scream that tore at his throat and his soul.

The abomination convulsed… and stopped moving.

[You have slain an Awakened Devil, Leviathan of Sorrow]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

Sunny floated there, barely conscious, clinging to the corpse of something ancient and terrible. His hands trembled. His vision blurred. But he was still alive.

And for a moment… just …The sea was quiet.

Just the slow sway of the water. Just the bitter taste of blood — his and the creature's — mingling in the blackness. At least he wasn't loosing that much blood because of Blood Weave.

Sunny hung there for a while. Drifting. Silent.

Then, slowly, he pushed himself off the corpse and began swimming upward, his body aching, lungs burning, the Abyssfang still clenched in his hand.

He didn't know how deep he'd sunk. How far the tide had pulled him away. The surface felt impossibly distant… but he didn't stop. He couldn't.

He had made a promise.

And he would hold that no matter what. But not now, not directly.

The sea was cold, but he welcomed it.

As the Dark Sea receded with the fading night, Sunny remained still, floating silently on its surface like a corpse that had forgotten to sink.

He had made his decision.

There was no place for him in that city. Not yet. Not like this.

Nephis… something had shifted in her gaze. Something quiet. Subtle. She was growing uncertain. Not about him, no — about herself. That was the danger.

And if he stayed, if he kept shielding them — kept making the hard choices, kept bleeding so they didn't have to — then maybe they would never be strong enough to survive what is to come.

He couldn't allow that. Not in this world.

So Sunny let the current carry him, watching the tiny silhouette of the stone statue fade into the distance. A small piece of him whispered that he was a fool… that this time, they might not make it without him. But he pushed the thought away.

Let them face something on their own.

They needed this trial more than they needed him.

And he needed to hunt. Not for shards, not for survival — but for growth. Real growth. He was too close now. The threshold of natural awakening shimmered on the horizon like a mirage, and he intended to cross it with blood on his hands and shadows at his back.

No more hesitation. No more playing nice.

By the time he found them again, he would be different.

Awakened. Stronger. Closer to the truth of what he had become.

A predator — one worthy of the Dream Realm.

"Third step of Shadow Dance…" he muttered to himself, a sharp grin slicing across his lips. "Let's see what it takes."

The black water grew thinner, more shallow, its supernatural chill giving way to the warmth of mundane night. Sunny stood, dripping and alone, in the crimson labyrinth.

Behind him, the Dark See disappeared.

Ahead… the Labyrinth waited.